She is Love
by anhanninen
Summary: When Carlisle and Esme save a young girl from a terrible fate, how does she fit into the family? A story revolving around the love of a family and healing of a child. AU
1. Chapter 1

**This story has been edited! **I've gone through and fixed many of the grammar and punctuation errors. It's not perfect because it isn't beta'd, but it's so much better. I hope you all enjoy!

**Edited 8/10/11**

**A/N:**Here I go! I'm trying to write a good full story of Carlisle and Esme as parents. I've made some changes that you should know about. First off, Carlisle was changed when he was twenty-nine years old, not twenty-three. Twenty-three is just a little too young for me and I mold Carlisle after Peter Facinelli's portrayal, so he doesn't exactly look that age. Esme will always be Elizabeth Reaser, that's how I imagined her and I think it fits perfect so her age can stay around twenty-six.

So far I don't think Edward or Bella will be in this story, but they might be, just not how Stephanie Meyer had them. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett will be mentioned and eventually will be a larger part, but as of now I don't know when. In this story, twilight never happens. I have my own ideas, so if something doesn't match up with the books tell me and I'll explain why.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

**Carlisle's POV**

Bliss… one-hundred percent bliss. That was what I was in as I walked hand in hand with my Esme through the streets of Duluth, Minnesota. With her hand in mine, nothing else mattered. Every time she 'ooh'd' or 'ah'd' at something, it was music to my ears.

The city was decked out with Christmas lights and decorations — that was why we came here for the weekend. Christmas was Esme's favorite time of the year and she wanted to see the decorations. Of course, we had planned on going to New York, but unfortunately my work schedule didn't allow it. The seasons were changing, so doctors and nurses left and right were starting to get sick and needed to take time off. The hospital needed me here in case of an emergency, so instead we made the not so far trip to Duluth to see their decorations, and of course Esme wanted to shop. This was the first Christmas in almost 50 years Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper wouldn't be with us. This was our Christmas, yes, we missed the kids, but alone time together was never a bad thing.

"Oh, Carlisle! Isn't this beautiful? Everyone looks so happy and the city is so lit up and cheerful!" Esme exclaimed as I smiled to myself and pulled her a little closer into my side.

"Yes, _il mio amore, _it's beautiful," I sighed kissing her perfect cheek as she giggled softly.

"You're not bored are you, dear?"

"Of course not! I'm perfectly happy just being near you, though, these lights have nothing on your beauty."

She laughed. "Have you even looked at the lights?"

"I'm caught by you once more, aren't I?" I smirked as she snuggled closer into my side while we continued our journey.

It was a little after ten in the evening when Esme came to an abrupt stop in front of an alley — halting me along with her. I looked to where her gaze was and saw a child, a girl, huddled against a brick wall. She was shivering and crying, wearing only a t-shirt and what looked like… shorts. Dear lord, she must have been freezing! It was barely thirty degree's outside.

Esme loosened her grip on me and pulled away towards the child as she shrugged her coat off. I stayed back for the most part as I too pulled my coat off. The child obviously needed it more than I, and Esme's wasn't exactly that large. Yes, it would cover the tiny human, but it wasn't heavy or big enough to cover the girl's legs.

"Sweetheart?" Esme said softly.

I could hear the child's heart rate spike, but she didn't lift her head or even acknowledge Esme's voice on the outside. I followed her now, one worried about the child's health, and two concerned as to why she was even out here.

"Honey, you must be freezing. Here take my coat," Esme said holding the material out. The girl flinched at the movement.

"Please don't hurt me," the child whispered, barely audible even to us.

"Child, we won't hurt you. It's cold outside and you're barely covered. We just wish to help," I said now standing beside Esme. The child finally lifted her head at my voice. Her face was bruised along with her neck and it looked as though she was…

"Oh, my!" Esme said seeing the bruising.

Her neck had two large hand prints on it — she had been choked. Now that I could see her face, she didn't look much older than thirteen, maybe fourteen. She was about four feet nine and looked to be around 70 pounds — small and malnourished. She was dangerously gaunt. Her face should still be a little pudgy, but this girl was almost skin and bones — not an ounce of fat on her.

"Sweetheart, my name is Carlisle and this is my wife Esme," I said motioning to Esme.

I reached into my wallet and pulled out the card with my picture and information on it. I hoped showing her it would earn a little trust. She'd see neither Esme nor I would want to hurt her — we just wished to help. "I'm a doctor, here's my ID badge from the hospital I work at so you know I'm not lying."

Her tiny hand reached out and gently took the badge from me, pulling it close to her so she could read it. "You're good?" She once again raised her eyes to meet mine.

"I won't bring any harm to you. Neither would my wife. May she wrap our coats around you? Give you some warmth?"

She looked back at the badge, and then reached her arm back out to give it to me before nodding — a little reluctantly. I smiled and passed my coat to Esme. She wrapped her smaller one around the girl first, and then laid mine on top of hers. As the girl opened her mouth to speak, her eyes clouded and she slumped to the side losing consciousness. I hurried and caught her, lifting her into my arms before her head could touch the ground.

"Carlisle, should we take her to a hospital?" Esme asked as I felt the girl's neck for her pulse; it had slowed down considerably. She was hypothermic and possibly in shock.

"Let's take her home. I can treat her there," I said as I readjusted the child so her front was pressed against my chest and the coats covered her back.

"The car is a few blocks away. Do you want me to go pull it around?"

I nodded yes, digging through my pockets for the Mercedes keys, and then handed them to her. She climbed up the building and ran over the roof tops; it was faster and no one would see her movements. Not but two minutes later, my black Mercedes pulled up to the opening of the alley. I opened the front passenger door and laid the child in the seat — turning on the seat heater. Esme already had the heat going at full blast.

"I hadn't thought of the seat heater," Esme murmured.

"It might get her warmer faster. She's moderately hypothermic and in shock. We need to get her home, so I can start an IV for fluids to treat the shock."

I buckled the little, unconscious girl in and closed the door. Esme moved to the backseat so I could drive. The drive back to our house outside of a small town called Grand Marais would normally take a good two hours — at a normal speed. I didn't go a normal speed, let's just say. I completed the one-hundred and twelve mile drive in less than forty-five minutes by going one-hundred and fifty miles per hour just about the whole way once I got out of the city. Once we got home, the girl was much warmer, but I was concerned at what her blood pressure might have been. I knew it would be low, but I couldn't get an exact reading without a sphygmomanometer.

After laying her down on our bed, I went to my study and retrieved my instruments. Esme had quickly changed the child into a warm pair of flannel pajamas. Of course, they were much too large, but they would keep her warm, and that's what mattered. I also noticed she had put socks on her feet and a wool hat over her head.

"Thank you, love, that's very smart. It'll keep her body heat in."

I smiled at my wife as I sat down on the bed on the girls left side. After running my hands through a candle flame to warm them up, I pushed up the sleeve on the girl's pajama top to find a vein, but I had difficulty finding one. Her veins were tiny — expected — but also very thin and difficult to tap. I checked her right arm finding the same thing before sighing in defeat.

"What's wrong?" Esme asked.

"I can't find a useable vein, and I don't have any pediatric size needles. The ones I do have would burst her vein."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have a central line kit. It's more invasive, but it would give me better access anyway. I might need that access. I'll be right back."

I went back to my study to grab the kit and then walked back into our bedroom.

"Could you remove her top and take the pillow from under her head?" I asked.

While she did that, I went into the bathroom and washed my hands before grabbing a few towels. Esme had done as I asked, but kept the sheet up to cover the girl's chest for modesty. I laid out a few towels under the girl's body, and then sanitized her neck with the antiseptic wash before positioning her.

"There will be blood," I warned.

"I'm fine, dear."

I got to work inserting the line, and then ran fluids wide open before checking her blood pressure. It was low as I thought, dangerously so if left untreated. She was definitely in physical shock, but she hadn't gone into an arrhythmia yet, so I doubted it couldn't be reversed. After I finished a basic exam — finding her body about seventy percent bruised with some minor cuts, none of which required sutures — Esme redressed her.

"Those bruises are from someone's hand, a large hand," she whispered as she gently caressed the child's face.

"I would guess abuse, some are older than others. I'm worried about how thin she is. She's very malnourished, so I'd say she was neglected as well. Once she wakes, she needs to eat. Let's try something light first to make sure she can handle it."

"Then what? What will happen to her?"

"I…" I didn't finish my thought because I heard the child's heart rate increase. I turned my attention back to her — she was beginning to wake up.

"Sweetheart?" Esme asked, lovingly touching the girls face.

"Mmm," the girl groaned, and then flinched away from Esme's touch as her eyes flew open. Fear and panic flooded through her light green eyes.

"Child, you are safe, no one will hurt you. We won't hurt you. Do you remember us?" I asked.

She looked confused, but then reality must have sunk in as relief flushed through her. "Y…y…yes, w…where am I?"

"You needed medical attention."

"I can't be at a hospital!" she screamed jerking up violently — about to tear out the line in her neck before I gently restrained her.

"You're not in a hospital. I'm a doctor remember? We brought you to our home and I'm treating you here."

"Oh," she sighed, obviously relieved.

"Can you lie back down for me? I had to get fluids in you, but I couldn't get access through an IV, so I placed something called a central line. It's in a main artery in your neck, so we don't want to have it torn out or pulled."

She laid back down — listening to me. That was good; she needed to listen to me.

"So I… I'm still in Duluth?" she whispered.

"No, we live outside of Grand Marais. It's about one-hundred miles from Duluth. Can I ask your name, darling? I'm Carlisle, if you remember, and this is my wife Esme," I said once again motioning to my wife.

"Nicole, I… I go by Cole."

"All right then, Cole." I smiled, warmly. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen, how… how did I get here?"

"We drove you here. I didn't know what kind of situation you were in, so I thought it best not to involve a hospital, which would call social services, until we know exactly how you ended up in an alley with almost no clothing on. You could have died out there."

"I… had to get away. Thank you for not taking me to a hospital. They'd send me to a group home."

"What about your parents? Any other family?"

She shrugged. "Dead… I guess, or at least they are to me. They gave me away when I was little. I got tired of foster and group homes, so I ran away a few months ago."

"You've been on the streets for months?" Esme asked.

"No… _he _took me in," she said, shaking her head. "He's bad. He'll kill me if he finds me."

"Who?" I asked

"Mark… he seemed nice at first."

"And then? Did he hurt you?" I asked and she nodded yes. "I'm just assuming, but the hand marks on your neck and body tell me this man was much bigger than you — not your age."

"He… said I reminded him of his daughter and he'd help me, but he didn't help me. He just hurt me."

She cried and I cautiously rubbed my hand over her arm. She didn't flinch away, which was good. Esme then gently brushed a lock of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, she didn't flinch at that either.

"Shh now, sweetie. You're safe now," Esme murmured as the girl sat up and wrapped her arms around Esme — surprising us both.

"Promise?" Cole asked. I could tell just from how she acted that she wasn't faking trust; she actually trusted us.

"Of course, we won't let anyone hurt you again," Esme said combing down Cole's hair.

A few hours had passed. Cole's vitals were improving and she had fallen asleep in Esme's arms. It was quite a sight — watching how motherly Esme is. She deserved so much more than she'd received. She should have been able to have children, to have a human life as a mother, not just a surrogate. I know she loves the children, but to be honest, they aren't children and they haven't needed a mother in a very long time. But Cole… she needed a mother… and a father. Could we be that for her? Would the love and support we provide make up for the fact that it wouldn't be a normal life?

"Carlisle?" Esme called. I raised my head to meet her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No, _il mio amore. _I was just thinking… about what would happen to her. She needs a family, a mother and a father. What would you think about… being that for her?" I asked.

Her face lit up brighter than any Christmas lights ever could, and her smile was bigger than I've ever seen. "Yes! That would be amazing! I already love her and she trusts us; it would be perfect!"

"She would have to know… about us. That could be dangerous, but maybe if we explained how we are different before telling her exactly what we are, she might be able to except it. But, Esme, if she doesn't except it that could be bad. She could expose us by telling people. I'm not concerned that people would believe her, but it would ruin her life if she tried — people would think her crazy…" I paused. "Is it worth that risk?"

Esme looked down at the precious child in her arms. "Alice," she whispered. "We decide, and call Alice to see how Cole might respond. If she says it's bad, then we won't risk it, but if there's a chance it could work out, we need to try."

"Sounds good, I'll call Alice and Jasper. If it works out, we need documentation for Cole: birth certificate, ID, passport, adoption papers, and those types of things. Jasper can take care of that."

**A/N: **Thank you for reading.

**Translation:**

Il mio amore: My love

**Please Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Edited 8/10/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Esme's POV**

My daughter, my little girl, that was who I was watching sleep. Only hours may have passed since I first laid my eyes on her, but in my heart, I knew she belonged with us. She should be ours and us hers. I hadn't listened in on Carlisle's conversation with Jasper — I was to taken by the girl in my arms. Her little whimpers and sighs as she slept had me in a range of emotions. Her whimpers made me cuddle her just a little more, and her sighs made me 'aww'. Anything she did, I had a reaction for.

I had tried to get up to get a hair brush, so I could brush out her tangles, but the second my body wasn't next to hers, she reached out for me. Needless to say, I was back with her in my arms in milliseconds. I hadn't even heard Carlisle make his entrance; he surprised me, which was about impossible to do. I only realized he was near when he sighed and I looked up to his smiling face.

"Good news?" I asked, with all my hope on a string that I prayed wouldn't be cut.

"Yes, we will explain what we are like, and then ask her what she thinks we may be. She'll answer correctly with the first guess." He smiled and came over to kiss my forehead. Even though this was great news, his lips felt sad.

"Carlisle, there's something else, you're lips feel sad," I told him, which made him chuckle lightly.

"Only you would tell my mood by the feel of my lips." He smirked before his eyes turned into concern. "Alice says Cole will develop pneumonia, so I need to go to the hospital and retrieve some medicines and supplies. I also want to order an x-ray machine to be safe. Hopefully, if I start treatment early, it won't be too serious."

"How serious can it get? What did Alice see?"

"She saw Cole quite sick, but I'm going to try my hardest to prevent that. Her body is already so weak from the beatings she took, the malnutrition, and the stress she's been through. She smells anemic, so it doesn't surprise me much. I do want to get a blood sample to run to the lab before I go. I'm also going to order some lab equipment for my office, but that might take a few days to arrive. I'd like to get exact results now."

"All right, are you going now? It's… what time is it?" I laughed having no idea the time. We didn't have a clock in here, since we obviously wouldn't need an alarm considering we don't sleep, and Carlisle always wore a watch.

"It's a little past seven in the morning." He smiled. "By the way, it's not that I mind having her in our bed, but I think she might be more comfortable with her own room."

"Hmm, I guess you may be right. I'll set up one of the other bedrooms for her. Hey, now I have an excuse to shop!" I giggled as he rolled his eyes.

"And shop you will, my love. I'm going to get some blood; are you alright staying in here?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. I wasn't annoyed that he needed to be sure, because I knew he was just looking out for me. He didn't want me to be uncomfortable. He knew I wouldn't attack her, but that didn't mean I was immune to the scent of blood like he was. It can be a little painful to be around free flowing blood, but for the most part, my control is amazing. I haven't slipped since I was a newborn, which was over 80 years ago, and even then I didn't kill the human.

The human was in the woods camping — I assumed — when Carlisle and I had gone hunting. The human was hurt and bleeding. It sent me into a frenzy and I may have licked the man's wounds… But I didn't bite him. Carlisle hit the man in the head, so he would forget, and then dumped him at the nearest ranger station. We moved three days later just to be sure we would be safe. Carlisle later learned that the man had no recollection of the incident, so all was good.

I watched as Carlisle attached a syringe to Cole's central line and pulled out blood. He transferred it into a vial, and then took a few more before he was done.

Watching him work was like watching a ballet. He was so elegant and careful, yet at the same time, so confident and sturdy. His hands were magic, as I've told him before. They could perform the most delicate of surgical procedures, but they could also end a life in seconds. He was so powerful, and yet he chose to be gentle. He was my hero; he did what most vampires could not. He was probably the only vampire in the world to have never enjoyed human blood. He fought instinct and became the complete opposite of what he should be. Instead of being a killer, he was a savior in a sense. Instead of taking lives, he saved them.

"All done!" he announced, placing the vials in a small cooler that was in his bag. "All right, the blood work may take a little bit, so I'm going to drop it off, go to the grocery store for some food, come back, and then go retrieve the medical supplies. By then, the blood work should be complete. If she wakes up before I return, get her some water and keep her in bed."

"If she wants a bath or a shower, can she have one?"

"Yes, the line is secure and it's fine to get wet as long as the entrance itself doesn't, but it's covered in a plastic adhesive, so it'll be fine. You have to unhook the saline drip, though. I'll show you how," he said, taking the plastic tubing into his hand. "First thing you have to do is stop the drip. All you have to do is slide this over, so it clamps the tube." He slid a plastic piece that was already on the tube over — it squished the tube down. "Once that's done, just unscrew this, and you're good to go." He pointed to the piece that connected the tube to the central line. "If I'm not back by the time she's done with her bath, just do everything opposite. Unclamp the tube like so and reconnect it."

It seemed simple enough. "Okay, I'm sure I can manage it," I said before kissing him.

"I love you. Call me if you need me." He kissed me once more

"I will, I'll see you soon, _mio caro,_" I whispered as he made his exit.

About twenty minutes after he left, Cole started to wake. She was confused at first, but calmed down considerably when she realized I was there with her.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" I asked.

"So sore," she moaned.

"Would you like a nice warm bath? That may help your bruising and swelling."

"Um... all right, are you sure it's okay?"

"Of course, sweet child. I'll go run the bath. I have some lavender or apple cinnamon bubble bath, which would you prefer?" I asked as I stood up from my place on the bed.

"Apple cinnamon sounds nice, as long as it's no trouble."

"No trouble at all. I'll be right back."

I started the water for the bath, making sure it wasn't too warm, before adding the bubble bath and setting out some towels. After I helped Cole into the bathroom, I let her be. While she was bathing, Carlisle dropped off some groceries and left once more after putting them away and instructing me to have her drink a nutrient milkshake type drink. After a good hour, Cole came out, looking much more refreshed in some new clothing. They were still much too large, but she looked cozy. I got her back in bed and reattached the saline drip before giving her the drink and sitting back down with her.

"Would you like me to brush your hair? I can braid it for you," I said as she looked up to me as if I were speaking in tongues.

Her eyes looked to me sheepishly. "You… you'd do that for me?"

I smiled. "Of course! Scoot forward to the middle of the bed, so I can get behind you. I'll be right back ok."

I retrieved a hairbrush and two hair ties from my bathroom then situated myself behind her.

"Can I uh… have like two french braids? Those look so pretty."

"They do don't they? Bend your head forward for me and let me know if I tug too hard," I told her as I got to work parting her long strawberry blonde hair. "You have beautiful hair, sweetie."

I could smell her little blush as it rose upon her cheeks. "No… no one's ever said that before. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Do you mind if I ask you some questions? I'd like to get to know you better. You can ask me some to, if you'd like."

"Okay."

I started off simple. "What's your favorite color?"

"Pink. What about you?"

"Hmm, I like royal colors like rich gold's and purples. When is your birthday?"

"October 17th. You?"

"July 3rd," I said starting on her left side — braiding it carefully. Her soft curls were still wet as I braided. "Why don't you ask me something? Anything you'd like."

"Um… you and Carlisle are married, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you have kids?"

"No, Carlisle has a niece and nephew who lived with us, but now they're in college. That's the closest we've had to children of our own."

"What are their names?"

"Well they're twins — Rosalie and Jasper. They're nineteen now. Rose is married to a man named Emmett and Jasper is engaged to a girl named Alice. I think of them all as my children. So does Carlisle."

"When are you guys calling social services on me?"

"Oh, sweetie, we're not. We'd like you to stay here with us. Of course, it's up to you, but we can't just let you live on the streets getting hurt. Fate brought us to you for a reason."

"I can… I can stay here?" she said, her voice breaking as her breathing picked up. "Real… really?" she asked as I stopped braiding and wrapped my arms around her shoulders — resting my chin on her head.

"Yes," I whispered into her ear.

After I finished her hair and our little talk, Cole swiftly fell back asleep. The poor thing was exhausted and I couldn't blame her, not after all she's been through. It was a little after ten when Carlisle got home. His expression was solid and firm, no smile or frown, but something was clearly wrong.

"_Mio Caro, _what's wrong?" I asked as he stood in the doorway holding his medical bag.

"Did she drink the shake?"

"Most of it. She couldn't get it all down, though. _Amore,_ what's wrong, you're worrying me."

"Her blood work… She is so malnourished it's a wonder she's alive. She probably hasn't eaten an actual meal in weeks, maybe months. Part of me wants to put in a feeding tube because I doubt she'll be able to eat anything. Her stomach is probably so tiny, she won't be able to eat solids."

"She drank the shake, isn't that good?"

"Yes, but I need her to drink the entire thing for now on, not just part of it. It'll help expand her stomach and give her the nourishment she needs, for now at least."

"Okay, when should she try to drink more?" I asked as he came over and inspected the central line in Cole's neck. He was gentle, careful not to wake her as he changed the bag of fluid with ease.

"We can let her sleep for now. When she wakes, she can drink some more."

I proceeded to tell him about mine and Cole's conversation. He was happy she opened up to me, even if it was mostly mundane things. The light in his eyes as I told him about her was something I've never seen before. This little girl brought a light into our lives we couldn't have even imagined was possible.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Translations: **

Mio caro: My dear

Amore: Love

**Please Review…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Edited 8/10/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Cole had been in our care for four days now and she officially knew exactly what we are. Alice was right, she guessed correctly the first time. So far, she doesn't seem bothered by it, which was extremely odd to me. But I guess I can see her reasoning. We try to be good, we don't hurt people, and we try to act as human as anyone else.

I feared the pneumonia had finally developed like Alice predicted. Last night her sleep was fitful — horrid really. She coughed and coughed, but refused for me to give her anything. After that first day, Cole had really opened up to Esme and I. It was difficult to hear about some of the things that man — Mark — had done to her. The poor child was not only physically abused, but also sexually. I was just thankful she had no STD's or any other diseases from him; her blood was clean.

I took a leave from work — a short one just two weeks — so I could be here. I informed the hospital of Esme and I adopting and thankfully had paperwork Jasper produced as proof, so technically I was on paternity leave. Paternity, that one of my new favorite words.

Today I was finally able to convince Esme to go shopping for Cole. She hadn't wanted to leave her side, so Cole's still in our bedroom. When she left this morning, I believe Esme may have kissed Cole's cheek so hard it bruised. Yes, I'd rather her not be harmed, but it is quite humorous that Esme kissed her hard enough to bruise. Esme loves that girl. I could just see how much happier she was, happier than I've seen her in almost ninety years. To think that this one human child has made my Esme so happy elates me. There was nothing I wanted more in this world than for Esme to be happy, and it's just a bonus that I too am happier. I feel a little wrong by saying this, but it's good to be needed. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather Cole be healthy, but there's something about being able to take care of my daughter that fills my still heart with joy. I truly felt needed.

I could hear Cole waking up, so I went ahead and pulled another nutrient shake from the fridge. We tried solid foods the other day, but she just couldn't handle it, so for now we're sticking with the shake and water, along with a bag of IV fluids once a day just to be sure she stayed hydrated. As I made my way back up the stairs, Cole's coughs turned to sobs which made me run. When I entered the room, she was curled on her side shaking from sobbing. I placed the drink on the night stand and gently touched her back. She surprised me by flinging her arms around my torso and resting her wet face in the center of my chest. I could hear her breathing perfectly then; it was ragged and her lungs were becoming severely congested, impeding her breathing — the sobbing wasn't helping.

"Calm down, sweetie. Try to even out your breathes for me." I murmured in her ear.

"My… my… chest!" she cried, so quietly I barely heard her.

"I know, but sobbing isn't helping. May I give you something to help you calm down?" I asked as I felt her nod her head yes in the crook of my neck. Gently, I rose from my crouched position and she let go — still sobbing lightly, hyperventilating or at least close to doing so.

I opened a drawer I had made into a drug lockup of sorts and pulled out a small vial of Ativan, along with two syringes. I wanted to be prepared, so I signed out quite a few different types of medications from the hospital, sedatives, antibiotics, analgesics, and fever reducers — just some common medications that may or may not come in handy. I also grabbed the bottle of codeine cough syrup I knew would come in handy. First, I pulled the Ativan into a syringe — just a small dose. It wouldn't put her to sleep but it would calm her down.

"I'm going to inject this into your central line, all right?" I asked her.

She nodded and turned her head to the side, so I could access the line. I noticed her heart rate pick up the closer I got with the needle. She knew the needle wouldn't actually be poking her, but I believed she may just have a fear. I guess it was good that she was unconscious when I placed the central line, considering how large that needle was. After injecting the medication, she calmed down within a few minutes until her breathing was as normal of a rate as I could get with how congested her lungs were. Next, I used the second syringe. I took the needle off and pulled out a dose of cough syrup.

"This you need to swallow. Will you do that for me?"

"What is it?" she asked, eyeing me curiously as I held the red filled syringe in my hand.

"Some cough syrup. You need it, so please don't refuse it. It'll not only help soothe your cough, but also the pain associated with it. Please take it?"

I was almost begging. She had refused medicine earlier, saying she was fine, though, we both knew she wasn't, a little stubborn, but definitely not fine.

She wheezed. "All right. Will it let me breathe?"

"Yes, you'll be able to breathe much easier and if it still feels like you're not getting enough oxygen, I can give you more with a nasal cannula."

"Let's try the medicine first. How do I take it?" she asked holding her hand out for the syringe. I placed it in her hand.

"Just place it in your mouth and push down on the plunger. I probably could have just put it in a medicine cup, but I'm a doctor. I like syringes," I teased, getting a half way decent smile out of her.

She took the syrup, making the most hilarious face as she swallowed it. It didn't smell very good to me, so I highly doubted it tasted any better. She gave me this incredulous look as if asking if I was serious as I chuckled at her.

"I apologize for laughing, but you do make an adorable face when something doesn't taste very good. Here's some water and your shake, which I need you to drink," I said, handing her the glass of water first. She took a few sips, clearing her mouth of the taste, before reluctantly drinking the shake. She wasn't fond of the shake, not even a little.

"Um… do you think maybe… can I have some soda?" she asked with a small blush rising on her cheeks from embarrassment.

"I think a small amount would be okay. I'll call Esme and have her pick some up. What kind do you like?"

She bit her lip. "Cherry Pepsi?"

I wondered if she thought I'd say no and that's why she's afraid to ask.

"I'll have her pick some up. Is there anything else you'd like? I know it's not easy right now to eat, but maybe you'd like some different juices? What about candy? Like suckers or hard candy?" I asked, hoping to learn more of her likes and dislikes. Every human had some things that they really prefer and it'd be nice to know what types of things she liked.

"I like apple juice. And candy wise, I like cherry things — like jolly ranchers or lifesavers."

"I can't say I know what a jolly rancher is, but I can assure you, Esme will find some if that's what you'd like. What exactly is it? I know what a lifesaver is, but not a jolly rancher."

"It's like a lifesaver; it's a hard candy. I don't know how to explain it. I can't believe you don't know what it is!" she laughed.

I made her laugh! That made me feel so good. It was progress, since I had yet to actually get a good smile out of her and now here she was laughing.

"Well, I don't eat so you can't exactly blame me for not knowing."

"I forget sometimes… that you and Esme… aren't human. You two just seem so human; it's weird."

"I've spent a good three and a half centuries acting human when I'm not. I like to think I've become quite the good actor." All of the sudden her heart rate dropped, and then picked up as her smile faltered. "What is it, are you all right?" I asked, concerned that she was in pain or upset.

"You're a good actor… how… how do I know…" She trailed off and I lifted her chin gently with my index finger.

"What? How do you know what?"

"How do I know you and Esme aren't pretending to care for me? Mark did until I trusted him then he… well, you know he hurt me — used me. I'm afraid, and I feel bad for being afraid, because my heart is telling me to trust you, but my head just keeps reminding me off all the broken promises and abuse I've been through."

"Oh, sweetheart. I swear to you, Esme and I care for you greatly. We love you as our daughter. We would never, ever hurt you. We would never use you, and above all, we wouldn't lie to you or break a promise."

"I… want to believe you. I so badly just want to be able to trust you, and I can't, but I want to!" she said, raising her voice. "Everyone hurts me. They don't care. I just don't think I can live with more disappointment or pain."

Tears started to form in her eyes. I gently caressed her face. Being as soft and loving as I could, I pulled her into my chest and held her there with my hand on the back of her head. Her little hand fisted in my shirt as she cried lightly, tugging and pulling at the fabric as her tears soaked through.

"Oh, sweetie, tell me what I can do to help you, please? I'll do anything for you. I'll be anything you need. A shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, and someone that loves you." I said the last four words a little more forcefully. I needed her to know that I loved her — that she's so very important to me.

"You saying that helps a lot. I've never felt so loved and maybe that's what I'm afraid of… Afraid of losing that, because I don't to lose that love," she murmured into my chest.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Edited 8/10/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

After a good while of holding Cole, she eventually fell asleep in my arms with her small head resting in the center of my chest. I didn't want to let her go, but I knew that position couldn't be comfortable, so I propped up some pillows and laid her against them. I took the spot right beside her. Her head was turned to the side, resting against my shoulder as I watched her sleep. For the most part, it seemed peaceful. Her coughing let up, so that helped. And from what I could, tell her breathing was as good as it would get with her lungs so infected with pneumonia.

I was happy yesterday when the x-ray machine and lab equipment arrived. I set them up in my office and planned to use the mobile digital x-ray soon to get a good look at Cole's lungs. I mostly just wanted to check if she had a lot of fluid buildup, because that can be painful. Right now, she was breathing well on her own and the x-ray can wait a few hours considering I'd rather her sleep. I had already texted Esme and asked her to pick up the few things Cole liked. She had no problem doing that, though, I knew she wouldn't.

Just as I thought about getting up to retrieve a book, Cole turned on her side and her arm came around my chest. She rested her little hand just above where my heart should have been beating. I beamed with joy — a smile obvious across my face. I got my answer as to whether or not I should get a book — defiantly no. My little girl wanted me right there and that was where I planned to stay. Smoothly, I brought my arm up and wrapped it around her shoulders — pulling her a touch closer. My hand rested on her shoulder and with the other, I brushed a fallen strand of hair away from her face. She sighed, contently.

We only stayed like that for twenty minutes before a particularly violent coughing fit woke Cole up. She jolted up, gasping for air in between coughs. I could hear the crackle of fluid in her lungs and internally winced with each cough. Suddenly, she mumbled something — not even coherent enough for me to understand. That was until she heaved. I knew then she had said something along the lines of "I'm going to be sick". I jumped from the bed, grabbed the waste basket filled with tissues, and had it in front of her face within milliseconds before she heaved once more — this time bringing up all the water and shake that rested in her small stomach. She choked and gagged on bile; the only thing that was left in her. She wouldn't take an actual deep breath. She kept choking and was now panicking for air. I, as gently as possible, patted her back to get her natural reflex to take effect, which it did, at the same time more bile came up. Now, she was in full panic and survival mode. Her eyes went wide and I kept patting making her breath, though, I was sure it was painful. I reached for the glass of water and forced it on her. She sipped, and then panted, and sipped again.

"Shhh, darling. Just breathe, and then drink," I murmured in her ear.

With each tear that fell, my heart broke for her. Of course, I had seen an episode like this many, many times through the years from patients, but it was different watching Cole go through this. It physically pained me — making me cringe. Once she calmed down enough, I took the water from her and wrapped her in my arms, whispering to her that it was all right — that she was okay despite what she believed. Despite what each tear that dropped said, she was in fact okay. Not well, but she wasn't going to die. I relaxed more as her pupils retracted from the full orbs. She was calming down and her body was relaxing.

"I'm certain it was frightening to wake like that, but sweetheart, it's okay. Now, I'm going to go and wash this basket out and refresh you're glass of water. Is that all right or do you still feel nauseated?" I asked before taking the basket from her hands. She continued to cry though — not giving me an answer.

"Talk to me please dear?" I pleaded as her eyes sadly went to the blanket in front of her. It was then I realized why she was still upset. In her haste and panic, she had missed the basket once and accidentally soiled the blanket.

"Oh," I sighed with a light chuckle. "That's completely fine, sweetie. I'll change the blanket. It was an accident and I'm not concerned or upset."

"I'm," hiccup, "sorry," she told me with such sorrowful eyes. I lightly caressed her cheek with a smile.

"Like I said, I'm not concerned; it's fine. May I have the basket now? I'm still going to rinse it out, and then change the blanket."

She released it into my hands. Quickly, with my natural speed, I had the basket rinsed and drying in the bathtub before stripping the bed and pulling a throw from the edge to place over her while I retrieved new sheets — which I knew Esme had plenty of. For two beings that do not rest, we had obscene amount of bedding. Truthfully, it's bordering ridiculous considering I found a sheet exactly like the one I just pulled from the bed. Why we needed two of the same pairs, I'll never know. I pulled a warm down comforter out as well with another plain crème colored fleece blanket, and then headed back into the bedroom where Cole was. She was resting in the center of the massive bed, adorably curled up with the blue-ish green throw. I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my lips as I changed the bedding without once moving her. She seemed quite fascinated with my ability, though, I hardly saw it as an ability.

She smirked softly. "I'd never guess you knew how to change bedding."

"I find it to be pretty self-explanatory. Just retuck the covers as they were and…" I spread my hands out, "Everything is perfect." I chuckled realizing I must look like a corny magician after some magic trick — my arms wide showing off my minor accomplishment. She had her hand over her mouth, which clearly displayed a smile.

"Corny." She rolled her eyes as the tiny blush rose upon her cheeks. I placed my hands on my hips, playing the part.

"I am not corny you little… girl," I said, faking anger. She raised her hand and pulled her index and thumb closer together — just apart.

"Little bit." She giggled lowering her hand back down. I feigned giving up and let out a large breathe.

"Maybe." I chuckled as I felt the vibration of my phone in my pocket. Right as I pulled it out, the ringtone started, telling me it was the hospital. I mentally cursed, though I had been given time off, I did tell the hospital if they really needed me I'd come in. Apparently, they really needed me.

"One second, sweetie. I'm sorry," I told Cole as I accepted the call and placed the electronic against my ear.

"Dr. Carlisle Cullen speaking," I answered.

"Hi d… Dr. Cullen this is Mary Shepard," a woman, I knew very well said. She was the hospital administrator after all, and her calling me wasn't good.

"Yes, Mary, what can I do for you?"

"There was a major accident on the highway, multiple victims… I wouldn't call if I didn't need you desperately. We need another surgeon. I know you're on leave, but we really, really need you to come in."

"No one else is available?" I asked, knowing there wasn't.

"No, I'm sorry."

"All right. I can be there in about a half an hour, maybe a little more. My daughter's with me and unfortunately sick. I'll have to figure out what to do, but I'll be there."

"Thank you and I apologize. Just get here as soon as you can. I'll make sure the most critical are seen by the staff we have, but please hurry."

"Goodbye, Mary," I said, sighing and hanging up the phone.

I instantly hit Esme's name and called her. She sadly informed me she had gone all the way to Minneapolis, which is a good two-hundred and sixty-five miles away. She was leaving the city right away, but it would take her at least two possibly three hours to get here with traffic. I had no choice. I refused to leave Cole here alone, especially with her illness being so serious. I had to take her with me. I asked Esme to get home as soon as possible, and if I hadn't called her, then to pick Cole up from the hospital. With that, I hung the phone up and looked to Cole.

"How mad would you be at me if I had to bring you with me to the hospital? I can set you up in my office. It's quiet, I swear, and you won't be bothered," I said praying she'd understand.

"That sounds fine, Carlisle. Someone needs you and I'd never want to stand in the way of that. Besides, I haven't been out of this room in four days, five if you count the first one. I'll get dressed," she said.

I hugged her — I couldn't stop myself. I knew she wasn't feeling well and needed me, but she understood the obligation I had at the hospital.

"Okay, you get dressed. I'll pack a small bag for you, my laptop included in case you can't sleep and get bored. Just, if you could wear a scarf, please? I'd rather people not know I performed a medical procedure on you outside of the appropriate venue. Although, I could always say it was done before we took custody and you need it still."

"Okay. Can I pick one of yours? Esme's are a little… flashy." She smirked.

"What's mine is yours — you never have to ask. And sweetheart, you can stay in your flannel pajamas — just wear a coat, you'll be more comfortable," I said as I helped her out of bed. She was weak and it wasn't easy for her to get up on her own, thankfully, she could still walk. Though, we had learned she was clumsy, what with her falling in the bathroom. Luckily, Esme was there and caught her.

"Can I bring this blanket and a pillow?" she asked holding up the throw I had placed on her.

"Of course, here, I'll take it and place it in the car. Just pick your pillows. I have a very comfortable couch in my office." I smiled.

She picked out a few fluffy pillows and gave them to me with the blanket. I packed her a small bag with IV fluids, her antibiotics, and a few of her shake drinks. I had put everything in the car by the time she was dressed. Cole kept her pajamas on like I suggest and wore boots along with a winter coat Esme had ordered online the other day. They were just some things Cole would desperately need. She also wore one of my favorite scarfs; it looked good on her, large, but good. And it hid the central line perfectly. I helped her to my Mercedes and locked up the house before driving away towards the hospital.

I had her situated in my office quickly 0 hanging the fluids and antibiotics on a rack I swiped from the supply closet. I sent a "thank you" up to the Lord for my favorite and most trust worthy nurse working today. Josh would gladly check in on Cole and even change her fluids if needed. I had explained the situation to him, saying Cole had come from an abusive home and the hospital she was admitted to right before we adopted her placed the central line for nutrients, but now she had developed pneumonia that needed to be monitored. He'd keep quiet and promised to check in on Cole. He said he'd keep me updated while I was in surgery. Cole seemed to like him. She wasn't afraid of him, which was good. Maybe it was because he was very much "out" as the gay community says, and she knew he wasn't a threat to hurt her. With a final kiss to her cheek, I left for the operating room where my newest patient was already prepped and waiting.

**Josh's POV**

Dr. Cullen was a little vague with details, but I trusted him. He was great, the best doctor we have on staff and of course g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! Which, didn't hurt. I knew he only wanted what was best for that young girl. It was sad what happened to her and how she came about living with the doctor and his wife, but I knew for now on that girl would be one of the lucky ones. Dr. Cullen was a great man and I was sure he'd be an amazing father. And Mrs. Cullen, well, she oozed motherly love just from the few times I've met her — I knew she was the mothering type. After Dr. C left, I finished helping Cole get situated. The poor thing was covered in bruises.

"All right, baby, my pager number is right here, you need anything, anything at all, page me. Got it?" I asked as she snuggled into the blanket she wrapped around herself.

"Yep, I think I'm good. Carlisle has me set up pretty well. He even left me some money to get a soda from the vending machines if I really want, but I think right now I just want to sleep," Cole said with a weak smile.

I lightly grazed my hand over her forehead. The poor thing was burning up! No wonder Dr. C didn't want to leave her home alone. I planned to check on her at least every half hour, if only to make sure she's still responsive. I also wanted take her vitals. I'd hate for something to happen just because Dr. C was needed to take care of someone else's child.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Edited 8/10/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

For the first hour I was in the OR, it was damage control. Routine, stop the bleeding, pack in the lap pads, and pray the patients' blood pressure went up with enough donated blood. Josh had called to update me on Cole twice. He had taken her vitals just before calling me the second time. I hadn't asked him to do that, but that was how he was — very thorough — and that was why I liked him. He took initiative without being asked. He cared for his patient with the highest of standards.

I was very pleased with how my patient was doing. He was nowhere near out of the woods, but right now all I could do was pack his abdomen with lap pads and control the bleeding. I would have to go back in to repair the damage, but that couldn't be until tomorrow, at least. Some healing needed to start and his vitals needed a chance to recover from the trauma. After shedding myself of the sterile gown and surgical gloves, I scrubbed down and went back to my office. I couldn't leave quite yet, since I had paperwork I needed to do and I wanted to check in on my patient in a few hours once he had a chance to recover some. I didn't want to surprise Cole, so I knocked on my door. I didn't get a response and from what I could hear, she sounded asleep.

Just as I was about to open the door, I heard my name being called by Josh. "Dr. C!" He was rolling a blood pressure stand beside him.

"Josh, how is she? Any change? Has she been asleep the entire time?" I asked, releasing the door knob and turning to him.

"Good, no, and just about." He smirked. "It took her a bit to fall asleep, but she did shortly after I took her vitals the first time. I was just going to take them again. Are you out of the OR for today?"

"Hopefully, but I can't leave yet — paperwork." I waved the file folder in my hand. "Come on in. I'd like to know her vitals once more."

The overhead light was off, but a small lamp on my desk was on barely illuminating the room. Cole was curled up on the leather sofa, her right arm lay under her head and hung over the edge as her left was firmly wrapped around her torso, just below her chest. She was asleep, but startled awake when Josh rolled the stand in and accidently bumped its wheel against the door.

"Don't," she mumbled, sitting up. She then bit her lip when she realized it was said out loud. I couldn't imagine how many times she had been woken up to something horrible, and begging it not to happen must have been a common reaction. Poor darling.

"Sorry to wake you, baby," Josh said, obviously feeling bad.

"Carlisle," Cole sighed, rubbing her left eye lightly.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Are we going home?" she asked as Josh set up the machine — connecting a pediatric size cuff.

"Not yet, darling. I have some paperwork to take care of. Esme should be here soon, though, maybe an hour — hopefully less. She's going to take you home."

I listened to her lungs. The fluid was getting worse and I could tell she wasn't getting quite enough oxygen into her sickly lungs as she should.

"I wanna get another set of vitals alright, sweets?" Josh asked Cole, holding the pulse oximeter out for her finger.

She readjusted herself on the couch, folding her legs under her, and sitting up straighter as she gave him her left hand. He slid the device on before wrapping her upper arm with the cuff. Not very surprisingly, even the pediatric cuff had a good amount of slack. A fourteen year old should be busting out of that cuff, but her tiny arms held almost no fat and not much muscle, so it was really closer to the size of a younger child than a teen.

I sat down behind my desk and opened my folder before finding a pen in my drawer. I could hear the pump start to squeeze Cole's arm and the beep from the thermometer, which Josh slid out of her ear.

"One-oh-three point five. Can she take a fever reducer?" Josh asked me as he positioned his stethoscope in his ears. I looked up from the file to my watch, it had been hours since her last dose, so she was due.

"Yes, there is some Tylenol in the bag I showed you — where the fluids and antibiotics were."

He pressed the bell of the stethoscope to her chest and listened — hearing exactly what I had. "She's getting more congested and…" He paused looking at the reading from the Pulse Oximeter and blood pressure machine. "Her respirations are down, more than they were not but a half hour ago. Blood pressure and heart rate seem to be holding steady."

"May I?" I gestured to his stethoscope. I had to pretend. He handed it to me and I sat down next to Cole, placing the buds in my ears.

"Take a deep breath for me, dear," I asked placing the bell over her shirt — against her back. The sounds were just much more enhanced. The crackles literally hurt me to hear. My daughter was suffering.

I sighed, handing him back the piece. "Let's put her on some extra oxygen. I already know what her lungs look like, so an x-ray isn't necessary. It does worry me, however, that her respirations are so low. Sweetie?" I asked, looking to Cole she raised her eyes to meet mine. "You don't feel like you're getting enough oxygen, do you?"

She frowned. "I feel like I just ran a few miles."

"Yes, one-hundred percent oxygen through a mask should help. I have a tank at home for her, but she hasn't needed it until now. If she's not doing at least a little better by the time Esme arrives, I might need to consider having her admitted. Though, I think it's just going to take some time for the antibiotics to work. I've taken some blood and mucus samples; its bacterial, so the antibiotics should work. If they don't soon, I'll switch to a stronger one," I told Josh as I lightly touched Cole's cheek and gave her a smile.

Another hour had passed and my paperwork was done. Cole seemed to be resting comfortably. She wasn't quite asleep, but I could guarantee if I asked her anything she wouldn't form a coherent response beyond "mhh" or "na". The only sounds in my office were the light blow of the oxygen tank, Cole's breathing and heart rate, my breathing, and the wind playing against the window. That was until my phone buzzed with a text — it was from Esme. She was stuck in traffic coming around Duluth. She had been in nothing but traffic. I had first called her at three-twenty; it was now close to six in the evening. She texted once more saying she was close to leaving the car somewhere and running home, since she was so frustrated. Of course, she also asked about Cole and my surgery. I informed her about both, which reminded me I needed to check on the male upstairs. If he was doing well, I'd see if someone else could take him from my service, and then I'd take Cole home.

The man was doing as well as expected, and Dr. Shelly Levine said she'd take over his care for me. He'd need at least one more surgery in the morning, and then he'd be in for a long and trying recovery. I'd check in on him when I came back to work after my leave and Shelly said she'd let me know how he did tomorrow. She was an experienced surgeon, very good, and I knew she'd take care of him. Normally, I wouldn't turn over a patient, but the pull wasn't as strong as usual. I used to love taking on patients — the more the better — but now, I'd rather be home with Cole and Esme. They were my priority — not that Esme hadn't always been my priority, but having Cole just made it harder to want to work. I don't like being away from her; she was my little girl and she needed me. These patients here have other caregivers. Cole only had me. Of course Josh as well — it seems the two of them have struck up a friendship of sorts — but he's here and I want Cole to be at home.

Which was what I did/ I took a sleeping Cole home to wait for Esme. She didn't actually wake once as I moved her by carrying her. She just sighed contently, even through the pain.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Edited 8/10/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Esme finally arrived home a little before eight o'clock. Her Porsche SUV was filled with bags from various designer stores, but in her hand held a bag from a grocery store. It had the hard candies and two liter of soda in it. When I met her in the garage, I took it from her, and then took her lips with mine, savoring the sweet taste of her.

"I hate traffic," she whispered as we pulled apart. "How is Cole?"

"Sleeping right now. She fell asleep at the hospital and didn't even wake as I carried her to and from the car, or when I placed her in the bed, which by the way, I had to change the bedding on," I told her before stealing one more kiss, and then grabbing as many bags as I could carry from her car.

"Just put those in the extra bedroom across from Cole's. Oh, and by the way, we're moving bedrooms. Cole seems comfortable in ours and I want her to stay in there. It is the largest, and after all, it's not like we need it. We'll be fine in another. Why did you have to change the bedding?"

"Cole was sick to her stomach earlier, and _il mio amore, _I think letting Cole have that room is a good idea. Though, once she thinks about it, she'll want a new mattress." I smirked as she playfully hit my shoulder.

I brought the bags upstairs and made another trip along with Esme to get the rest. By the time everything was out of the car and in our new bedroom, the bed itself was covered. I noticed the bags from Apple — Esme took my suggestion and bought Cole a laptop and a phone.

"I was thinking those could be Christmas gifts. Is that all right or should we give them to her now?" Esme asked, noticing where my attention was.

"Christmas is only a few days away. I'm sure she can wait. She has my laptop to use if she wants to. Did you get…?" I stopped talking as I heard a gasp of air fill Cole's lungs. I was in her room with Esme right behind me in seconds. Cole was awake and had the oxygen mask pulled down. I immediately pulled it back up, covering her mouth and nose.

"You need that. Don't take it off," I told her.

"Ch…est," she mumbled through the mask.

"Does it hurt?" I asked sitting down next to her and taking her wrist in my hand as I felt her pulse.

"Heavy, tight."

"I know, sweetheart. Did it wake you up?"

She nodded yes as her shallow breathes fogged up the mask. Esme came over to the other side and sat down next to her, pulling her close to her side and grazing over her hair lightly with her hand.

"Esme, you're back," Cole said sitting up a little to rest her head in Esme's lap.

"Yes, sweetie, and I apologize for being gone so long. Traffic was horrid, but I picked up some things for you. Clothes, candy!" Esme smiled raising her voice excitedly. Cole perked up some at the mention of candy.

"I'll go grab the candy, but go easy on it. Your tummy can't handle too much and if I remember correctly — which I do…" I smirked, looking at my watch, "It's time for another shake."

She immediately scrunched her nose up in disgust. I touched her nose with my index finger, and then left the room to go downstairs and get the shake. I also grabbed a cup with some ice for the soda. I'd only give her a small amount, but I thought she deserved a treat. She was great today, and so understanding while I worked. She never complained about being at the hospital or when Josh took her vitals — she was a perfect angel.

After giving Cole the shake and informing her if she drank it all she could have the soda, I gave her and Esme some time alone. They needed girl time — as Esme called it — besides, Cole would want to bathe and Esme would help her like she had always done. At least now she had clothing that fit.

I went to my study and found I really hated being alone. I did busy myself as best as I could — I had items to put away. I had ordered medical supplies that I might need with a human living in the house and shelving to hold it all. I put together the metal shelving units and started the new compact freezer/refrigerator up. I'd store blood and certain medications in it. I still needed to get the blood — AB negative, that being Cole's type. I put away the supplies, suture kits, IV needles, bandages, antiseptic, and those types of things — common items that might come in handy.

After I finished my study, I went back to check on Cole. She was done bathing and now Esme was brushing out her hair. Cole had to hold the mask against her face, and when she looked up and saw me, she smiled. I gave her one back before leaving them alone again. I could hear their conversation just fine, but I ignored it — I didn't want to spy. I went into Esme and my new room and started taking things out of bags and hiding the Christmas presents — not that Cole would go looking for them, but I didn't want her to stumble upon them and ruin the surprise. To think, just a few days ago I thought this Christmas Esme and I would be alone. I had never been happier to be wrong.

When it was around nine o'clock, I went back into Cole's room. She was still on oxygen and now it was time for her antibiotics once more. I had already decided that if she showed no improvement tomorrow, I'd find a new antibiotic — a more aggressive one. I would do anything and everything to prevent having to admit her to the hospital. If I admitted her, I couldn't treat her. She was family and it was against hospital policy. I really didn't trust any other doctor enough to allow them to decide what was best for Cole. I knew what's best — as a physician and her father.

"Carlisle, listen to this," Cole said with a decent smile before sitting up. She took the deepest breath she could and coughed… hard. Maybe I should have been listening a little closer before.

"That's great, sounds like the fluid is coming up some. Tomorrow I want to try a breathing treatment. Seeing as how the oxygen has helped, a treatment should help even more. Maybe we can kick this in time for you to be able to enjoy Christmas!" I smiled, walking over and changing the empty antibiotic bag from earlier to the full one I just brought in. She didn't need a bag of saline right now; the shake was empty and so was her cup of soda.

"That reminds me, I need to talk to you about something… in private." Cole smirked, her eyes flickering to Esme.

"Well than, maybe Esme can go for a quick run?" I asked my wife as she kissed Cole's forehead, both cheeks, and then the top of her head before standing up and huffing lightly.

"I can take a hint," Esme said.

She smiled, and then kissed my cheek before leaving the room. I heard her run away from the house and once she was out of hearing range, I looked back to Cole.

"What did you need that Esme can't hear about?" I asked doing a quick vitals check.

"A gift. I um… don't have any money, but I want to get or even make Esme something that she'd really like."

"Borrow my laptop tonight, find something you'd like to give her, and save it. Tomorrow I'll order it or try and find it if I can buy it close by," I said pulling the blood pressure cuff from her arm. Her vitals looked good and respirations were rising, even if it was just by a touch.

She chewed on her bottom lip. "But I want it to be really special and she has so much… I kinda wanted your help."

I smiled. "I'd be honored to help you. We'll look into it tomorrow when she's not near. How does that sound?" I asked, putting my instruments away.

"Good. It's just I like to think I know her, but really I just met both of you. I want to find something perfect, even if it's just a hand written note telling her how much she means to me."

"I know we can find something, _tesoro_." I smiled touching her cheek. She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Have you noticed how sometimes Esme and I will say, _mio amore _or _mio caro_?"

"Yeah, it means my love or my dear. Esme told me that it's Italian — something you guys do. Affectionate terms."

"Exactly. _Tesoro _means sweetheart or darling."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"_Mia cara figlia… _my darling daughter," I murmured, leaning down and touching my lips to her forehead as I smiled to myself.

**Cole's POV**

I had never had a real family. My mom was a drug addict, my dad a criminal — neither one were very good parents. I had lived in six foster homes in between my stays at groups homes. Never once were the parents anything like Carlisle and Esme. Most were in it for the money; the monthly check the state sent them. Few weren't too bad. The parents were somewhat decent — never people I'd miss much when I left, though. I learned quickly through the years not to get attached, not to trust, because eventually I'd be sent back. I never planned to be in a home very long. It wasn't that I was bad. I always did chores and anything that was asked of me. I cleaned and cooked when asked, and in certain homes, I knew to do that even when not asked.

It was the last group home that made me run. There were three teenage boys there — all foster kids like me. They… liked to play, as they called it. I was told I liked it, or at least I was supposed to. It was what girls and boys did. They touched me. Maybe I was the first, but I highly doubted it, and maybe I shouldn't blame them, I mean they were never taught what was right, just what they thought was right. But I did blame them, because they hurt me. I ran because of them. I ran right in to the arms of someone much worse.

I let my guard down with Mark because he treated me so good. He wasn't a foster parent, so he didn't get money from taking care of me. I foolishly thought that he was helping me out of the kindness of his heart; when in reality it was because I was someone to use, to abuse — play with. I was an easy target for him. I made myself an easy target because I trusted to easily and it was my fault. Or at least that was what I believed.

Esme and I talked a little about what happened to me. I told her how it was my fault and suddenly she gasped placing a hand over her heart chanting "no, no, no". She said that it wasn't my fault. That I was a child and I was taken advantage of, but I knew what I was getting into. I did let it happen. I only ran from Mark when he tried to kill me. He snapped one night, the night Carlisle and Esme found me in an alley. He choked me, beat me… raped me. He hurt me so badly and I knew if I didn't get out soon, eventually I'd be dead and it wouldn't be a long. It would be a spur of the moment sometime soon. I'd piss him off and bam! I'd be dead.

The first few days with Carlisle and Esme I made myself not trust them. because I thought they were human, and humans always hurt each other. In a way. them being vampires made me trust them easier. Stupid and silly, I know. Basic instinct tells you to be afraid of what's different; to be cautious of it. My instincts must have been pretty messed up, because the only reason I could begin to trust them was because they are different. It even sounds confusing, I know, but it was true.

Carlisle was such a great guy. He cares and it wasn't a lie. When he called me sweetheart in Italian, my heart swelled, because in a way he was showing me he loved me. He and Esme did that with each other — murmur in Italian — and they obviously love each other. Maybe he could be the father I've always wanted. Would he even want to be? I mean, he did call me his darling daughter and logic says that meant he loved me and thought of me as a daughter. Can I think of him as a father? Can I think of Esme as a mother? God, I want so badly for them to be my parents. And the fake documents they had created say they were. They adopted me, not foster — adopt. I didn't care if that was a forged document, because Carlisle even told Josh and others at the hospital he and Esme adopted me. He wouldn't have told people if it wasn't true.

I looked at the clock Esme put in my room. Yes, my room. They gave me their room! It said it was ten-thirty-five in the morning. I had been awake for about thirty minutes, but no one had come in yet, so I finally sat up and removed the covers from my body. I looked up to the hook in the wall Carlisle created. He had hung new fluids and antibiotics — recently at that. I clamped down the lines and unscrewed them each before placing my feet against the floor. The second I stood up, I wish I hadn't. I went straight down to the hardwood — collapsing in such a dizzy stupor.

I heard the door fly open and was instantly lifted up by cold arms and placed back on the bed. I was a bit to dizzy still to open my eyes, so I let out a groan. From the feel of the arms, I could tell it was Carlisle, but other than that I couldn't tell anything. It was like everything faded into black, sounds were just murmurs that I couldn't fully understand, and my breathing… it felt like an elephant was sitting on me.

"…oxygen… the mask…_ tesoro_... eyes... please," I heard Carlisle voice.

I didn't catch most of his words, so I had no idea what he meant. I felt the oxygen mask being placed back over my face, the band being put around my head. So that was what he was saying about oxygen and the mask. He was asking me to open my eyes, but they were just so heavy.

"Carlisle, is she okay?" Esme's panicked voice said through my haze.

"She just over did it, but I need her to open her eyes. She hit her head and I need her to be awake right now," Carlisle said.

All right, that made sense. Maybe if I try harder I could get at least one eye open. He sounded worried and I don't want him to be. I didn't like it when he worried about me because his voice changes and it makes me feel so bad. With all of my strength and a grunt, I got my eyes to open half way. I blinked a few times since everything was so blurry. Finally, I could make out Carlisle creased brow as his face was right above mine. Esme was off to the side with her hand over her heart and her mouth slightly opened. I lifted my hand and touched Carlisle's forehead were the creases were.

"Winkles," I said, trying to smirk. He let out a relieved laugh and took my hand in his.

"No joking right now. You just scared the hell out of me. What were you thinking trying to get out of bed without help! You're too weak for that!" he said — a little loud with a huff.

I frowned, he was mad at me. I didn't want to upset him. I felt the burn behind my eyelids as the tears formed and my jaw quivered. I tried to stop it. No crying, I told myself, but apparently I don't listen, because I did cry.

"I'm… s…s…sorry!" I cried, begging for forgiveness. He raised his hand and I flinched away. In my mind, I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but it was an automatic reaction. My flinching caused him to stop his hand midair and draw it back.

"I…" He was speechless. Carlisle Cullen was speechless! What had I done?

"I'm so sorry. I'm…" gasp, "really, really sorry," I sobbed. "Please forgive me. I'm s…" He touched his finger to my lips, stopping my rambling.

"I'm not mad, not at all. I was just worried. You have no reason to apologize… I do. I should not have raised my voice at you. Please don't say you're sorry; it breaks my heart to hear you say something you don't need to. You did nothing wrong."

I mustered up all of my energy and sat up. I moved on the bed so I could wrap my arms around his neck. I crushed myself into his stone body and he wrapped his arms around me under my arms, holding me close as his face went into my hair and he kissed my temple. He stood up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, not wanting to let him go.

"I love you, daddy," I said.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Edited 8/11/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

_Daddy_

The word Cole spoke two days ago made my heart swell. She called me daddy, though, I was now positive she didn't mean to say it out loud. Before she said that, she had been opening up to me — letting me get to know her — but now… now she barely looked at me, and never in the eyes. She only talked to me when I asked her something and her answers were normally quite vague — "yes, no, fine". One word answers that were never followed by an explanation.

The pneumonia had started to clear. She wasn't better by any means, but she was getting better, and that was what was important. Her lungs had cleared up some and the extra oxygen is no longer needed. She also started to eat actual food, so far only soup, but that was a start. She hadn't lost any more weight, but she also hadn't gained like I wished she would.

Cole barely talked to Esme, as well. She did talk to her more than me, so for that I was grateful — at least she hadn't completely shut us both out, just me. I never once, in my nearly three-hundred and seventy years, gone from being so thrilled to so heartbroken. I just wanted to fix what was wrong — fix what I did to make her distance herself from me. Was I not quick enough to react? I held her closer once the words were out. I kissed her temple over and over showing her the love I felt as well as I could. What could I have done differently? Was it an accident? Did she not mean those words? Dear Lord, the doubt is overwhelming! I needed to know if she meant it, because I meant what I said when I referred to her as my daughter. Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. Oh God, what if she thought I was mad that she called me daddy?

For the most part, I had sulked in my study, going over what happened in my head, not once, not twice, but every minute of each day.

"Carlisle," Esme said from my doorway as she walked in.

She came around my desk and sat on my lap, kissing me passionately before meeting my eyes with hers. I smiled to her, but my pain showed through.

"I think…" She began, but then paused, "That I should go for a hunt."

She hadn't hunted since before going to Minneapolis a few days before, so I knew she needed to.

"All right, _mio amore. _Are you going far?"

"Maybe into Canada, so I'll be gone for the rest of the day. I'll try to be back before morning light — tomorrow is Christmas Eve after all."

I looked at my watch; it was just after noon. That would mean Cole and I would be alone for close to sixteen hours — maybe longer. She was setting this up so Cole would be forced to talk to me. She was giving me the time to try and fix this… this rift?

"You know, Josh called yesterday. He wanted to see Cole. I can call him ask him to come and spend time with Cole. I'll come with you."

"No," she told me.

I was taken aback. "You don't want me to come?"

I was horrible, playing the guilt card just because I didn't want to be left alone with the girl I thought of as my child. I didn't want to make things worse between us. At least right now she was talking to me. Sure, it wasn't an actual conversation, but she wasn't ignoring me. If I push her, she might start to, and I needed her to be able to at least tell me how she was feeling.

"Carlisle, you know it's not that. Something is wrong with Cole, something you and her need to talk about. For some reason, her calling you daddy stirred something in her and now… now she's shy around you. Like she's afraid of you. No, that's not true. She isn't afraid of you. She is just feeling confused, and you and her need to figure it out. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I expect by the time I get back for everything to be good again. Are we clear?" she asked, using that motherly voice. The one where I was obligated to oblige.

I took a deep unneeded breathe. "Yes, but what if I can't fix it? What if she shuts me out completely?"

"Then break down the door. Be the Carlisle Cullen I married and love. Firm, but loving — compassionate."

She rose from her spot and kissed me once more before she left to tell Cole. I listened in. Cole wasn't sure as to why Esme would be gone so long. What if she was afraid to be alone with me?

A half hour passed after Esme had left. It was time for Cole's antibiotics and it was time for me to try and get her to talk to me. I also needed to change out the dressing for her central line, flush it, and clean the area. I grabbed the supplies I'd need — most were in a kit I had ordered. I placed the kit and other items I needed on a metal tray and carried it to Cole's room. Her door was closed most of the way, so I knocked. I knew she was awake and heard the quiet "come in" on the other side of the door. I pushed open the door and entered cautiously.

"I need to clean and change you're central line dressing," I said, placing the tray on the small dresser next to her bed. "Are you wearing a tank top under your sweater?"

"Yeah," she said — her voice obviously nervous. I was making her nervous.

"Good." I smiled. "Can you remove the sweater for me?" I asked before going into her bathroom and washing my hands — mentally "pumping" myself up for this conversation. I would find out what was wrong, and I would fix it.

By the time I got back with my hands now dry, Cole was sitting on the bed in just her tank top and flannel pajama bottoms. Her hair was up in a bun on top of her head, and her neck completely clear of anything that might get in the way.

"All right, it might be easier to have you lie down on your back with no pillow under your head. I'll put a drape down to keep your bed clear."

I opened the kit and pulled out the blue, sterile drape. She slide down on the bed and turned facing the headboard — her legs extended on top of the pillows. I put the drape down at the foot of the bed and she lied down, turning her head so I had better access. I placed my tray beside her head and sat down.

"You know, a central line in the jugular was once thought to have a lower chance of infection. Really, that's not true if the line is taken care of properly. Normally, in the hospital when I place them, I go through the chest, not the neck, but in your case I didn't. I probably could have done the chest just as easy, but for some reason I chose your neck. I still don't know why," I mused.

"Hmm," she said as I snapped on the gloves and chuckled.

"I really don't need to wear gloves, you know. I guess it's just habit. I mean you know what I am, so I'm trying to fool you like I would a patient in the hospital. My cool touch isn't foreign to you, so I don't need to use gloves as an excuse as to why they're cold."

I removed the clear adhesive dressing then started to disinfect the area around the catheter.

"Did you know, in 1890 William Stewart Halsted was the first to use sterilized medical gloves when he was at Johns Hopkins University. With the publication of germ theory, Halsted was using carbolic acid — introduced by Joseph Lister — to sterilize his and his nurse's hands. She was sensitive to the chemical, and it was damaging the skin on her hands. So, he asked the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company if they could make a glove of rubber that could be dipped in carbolic acid. The first disposable latex medical gloves were manufactured in 1964 by Ansell, which was founded in Melbourne in 1905 by Eric Ansell," I said, giving her completely random and most likely useless knowledge of the history of medical gloves. I think it was my nervousness showing through. She surprised me by asking a question.

"When did you first use them?"

"Not long after. Halsted was very adamant about sterility, and being one of the four founding professors at John Hopkins, he was followed closely."

"Did you know him?"

"Yes, I worked with him. At the time I was training once again to become a surgeon. He thought he was teaching me." I smirked.

"But, you knew more than he did."

"I wouldn't say that. I mean, yes, I had already trained with other, more distinguished surgeons in England, but I did learn things from him — sterility for one."

I finished cleaning the area and moved on to flushing out the line. We didn't talk anymore after that little history lesson. I finished, hooked up the new drips, and cleaned the area. She must have thought we were through, because she went back to her normal position on the bed and laid down on her side. I threw the used supplies away after putting everything else back in my study. I came back into her room and sat down beside her — facing her.

"You called me daddy," I said as her heart rate increased. "I very much enjoyed that moment, but obviously something about it upset you. Please, talk to me, so we can figure this out. I don't like not talking. I hate it. All I want is to hear your voice and see your smile. What did I do?"

She sat up quickly and looked at me with an expression I would expect from someone I just offended. "_You_didn't do anything! _I_did." Her eyes filled with tears. One fell on her cheek and I wiped it away before she could.

"What do you think you did?"

"You… don't… you're not my… I wish you were but… Damn it!" She cursed. I let it slide. Obviously, explaining wasn't easy for her.

"Just tell me; I'm here to listen. You can ramble on and on until you're ready to tell me. I just gave you a history lesson that you probably will never need to know. I did that because I didn't know how to start a conversation — this conversation. I'm so afraid I upset you by doing something that it has taken me two days to confront the problem, but let me tell you this, we're going to work this out." I smiled.

"How?" she asked. "I… I don't deserve to be able to call you daddy. I'm not good enough." She cried as I placed my hand on her face and forced her to look me in the eyes. She will never be allowed to say she's not good enough for something!

"You… are so brave, so strong, and so amazing. Never say you're not good enough. Never think that about yourself."

"But how can I be? You and Esme are… are perfect! I'm a human, a broken, used, dirty human!"

I was appalled she had said those words about herself. "Those are three words that could never be used to describe you… ever. You are not broken — you are brave. You are not used — you've been abused. And dirty? Nothing about you is dirty."

"I don't deserve to be your daughter. You're such an amazing person and, as a father, you're what I dream of. You're kind, you care, and you've never and will never hurt me. You're perfect and I don't get perfect."

"Let me just say I am not perfect… but you..." I said, now cupping both of her cheeks in my hands, "Do deserve perfect. I'll never be a good enough father in my own eyes. I can always do things better, because you deserve better. You've had such a hard life — too hard. My life's purpose now, is to be that father for you. I want to be perfect for you. I want to give you the life you've always deserved.

"I know you're fourteen, technically not a child, but to me, in my eyes, you are a child — my child. You are my child — my daughter. I am your father — your dad, daddy, whatever you want to call me as long as you allow me to be. Please, I am asking you. Let me be your father," I said as I wiped her tears that she now shed regularly. They fell like rain drops, but something told me it wasn't because she was sad.

"I do… love you," she whispered.

"I love you too. More than anything."

"I'm your daughter?"

"Yes, if you allow it."

"I want… to be your daughter. Please, say it."

"Then you, Nicole Lynn Cullen, are my daughter." I smiled as she sniffled and hugged me lightly.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Edited 8/11/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

Hard… That was what it was to talk to Carlisle. There was no other, fancier, better word. It was just… hard. It wasn't like I expected him to agree with how I felt. How I was broken and used — dirty. I knew he'd say something like he did, but I hadn't expected the emotion in his voice. I hadn't expected him to ask to be my father. There was nothing I wanted more in the world than a dad like him and a mom like Esme. Caring, loving parents.

Later that night around nine, I got out of the shower and changed into some new pajamas. A plain white long sleeve shirt and blue and green flannel bottoms. I was been able to walk on my own again now, and I was been able to explore the house some. It was really big. My room was on the second floor, just across from Carlisle and Esme's temporary one. Esme had said something about them moving to the third floor. I hadn't been up there yet, but she said there were two more rooms and a bathroom. One of the rooms held her private area where she went to think or paint. The other was empty. On the second floor, was also Carlisle's study/office. I hadn't been in there yet, and I knew he was there right now, so I ventured down the hall into that room.

The door was open and warm light invited me in. I gaped at the size of that room. Two of the walls were just books, from floor to ceiling, just books. The far wall was glass — a big window and door that lead out to the deck, which my room also had access too. The last wall where the entrance was, held some metal shelving and cabinets and a few paintings. Carlisle's desk was just in front of the window, facing one of the book walls. In front of his desk, where two leather chairs, and in the middle of the room, a few feet from one of the book walls, was a large matching sofa with a coffee table in front of it. The entire room was basically oak wood with brown leather.

"Wow," I whispered, looking around until my eyes landed on Carlisle, who sat behind his desk — book in hand.

"You haven't been in here yet, have you? Welcome to my study. You can come in here any time you'd like. Do you like to read?" he asked, placing his book on the desk next to his open laptop.

"Um, just what I had to in school. I've never read for fun, if that's what you mean."

I walked around, gazing at the various items in the bookcases. He had so many little things — old things from the looks of them.

"Well, I have many, many books if you'd ever like to try. This isn't even half of my books. I have the rest in the basement — around seven-thousand, last time I counted. I mostly keep my medical texts and my very favorites in here," he said as he came over to me.

"Do… do you have Romeo and Juliet?"

I'd never read it and I kinda wanted to try.

"I do. I have almost every book and sonnet Shakespeare had published. I believe, yes, Romeo and Juliet is right over here," he said, climbing a latter and reaching up for one of the hard bound books. He blew dust off of it and handed it to me.

"How… old is this?" It looked ancient.

"I bought it in the early nine-teen hundreds, so not too old considering some of the other texts I have. I had a first edition, but it didn't stand the test of time, I'm afraid."

"What's the oldest book you have?"

"The Tale of Genji, but it's in Japanese. My book isn't nearly as old as I wish — only a few hundred years — but the original was written in the eleventh century on scroll."

"Is it any good?"

He chuckled. "A masterpiece — amazing. If you ever want to read it, I do have a translated version, though it's just not as… accurate as the original. Things get lost in translation."

I gazed around once more. My eyes fell on the metal units. "Those don't belong in here." I pointed to the metal.

He sighed with a smirk. "Medical supplies, my dear. A fairly new addition."

"Isn't there another room for it? I just mean that this room is so amazing and the metal is so out of place here."

"I don't mind. Mixing a little modern with the classic oak livens it up a little. I do have plans on turning the bedroom that Esme and I are in right now into a small storage room and possible exam room — for emergencies, of course," he said, resting his hand on the back of my head. He pulled me into his side and kissed the top of it.

"My hair can't taste very good," I teased.

"I could kiss this head of yours forever. Now, would you like to sit? I'm just about to start some paperwork." He led me over to the desk. I sat down in one of the leather chairs as he took his seat. "I need your help anyway." He smiled up at me.

"My help?"

"Yes, they're insurance forms — medical, dental, and vision. Now that "legally"," he air quoted, "You're my daughter, I need to add you to my insurance plan. And this way, if I don't know something, I can just ask quickly. You may start reading if you'd like, or play on my laptop."

He turned his laptop around to face me. I noticed the screen was on a jewelry site.

"Shouldn't you have already gotten Esme's gift? Oh, shoot, we never got Esme something from me." I frowned.

"Actually, I did find something. I could say I put it together for you. I had taken some pictures of you and her together. They're not exactly perfect, but you can clearly see the love in both of your eyes. Here take a look."

He handed me an album. Most of the pictures, I was asleep and Esme held a different expression. My favorite was one where I was curled into her and she just gazed down at me with a smile as her hand floated above my head. She was just about to touch my hair — pat it or something. She looked so loving.

"This is great. Can I write a letter for her to go with it?"

"It's your gift, you may do whatever you wish. Here is some nice stationary, though, you could scribble on a napkin and she'd be thrilled." He laughed, passing me some paper that I kept on the desk. I sat the album on top of it after I looked at it. It was like golden-ish — very fancy looking — very Esme like.

"That's perfect thank you."

I started to read as Carlisle filled out his forms. Every once in a while, he paused to ask me a question, like when were my last vaccinations, if I've ever been to the dentist — those kinds of things. So far, I really enjoyed the book and I couldn't wait to read some more of his books. He said he also had poems and sonnets that I want to try. I once heard Robert Frost was really good and Carlisle said he had some copies of his poems that I could borrow. I hadn't realized how long I'd been in there until Carlisle cleared his throat — pulling me out of the play.

"_Tesoro, _it's almost eleven o'clock. I'm sure you're tired. How about we get you to bed?" he asked, just in time for my stomach to grumble. He laughed to himself as I blushed. "Maybe a snack first, hmm?"

"There's more soup in the fridge. Can I have a cup of that?" I asked as I marked my place in the book and closed it. He did the same to his and stood up.

"Of course. Why don't you get settled and I'll go warm it up."

I got up and he kissed my forehead before we left the study. I went to my room as he went towards the stairs. After climbing up into the massive bed and situating myself right in the middle with pillows on both sides and the blanket pulled up to my waist, Carlisle came in — soup and glass of something in hand. He placed them both on my side table and pulled the tray from beside the bed and placed it over my lap. The glass had a small amount of Cherry Pepsi in it — my favorite. The glass wasn't even half full, which kind of disappointed me, but I was still happy to have some of the yummy drink. Carlisle had been very careful with how much soda I could have. He didn't want it to upset my tummy. It was actually surprising he was letting me have some so late, but I wasn't complaining.

"All right, the soup is a little warm, but I think it's cooled down enough for you to eat," he said, holding the bowl in both of his hands. He was cooling it down — letting his cold hands lower the soups temperature.

Finally, he sat it down on my tray and handed me a spoon. I only had a few spoonfuls of the delicious homemade vegetable soup, but it did satisfy my hunger. Carlisle joked that my appetite had risen from one of a mouse to a large hamster, and hopefully soon, it would be that of a house cat. Hilarious, right? After placing the tray on my side table, Carlisle tucked me in. I haven't had someone tuck me in since… well, never. I don't remember my biological parents ever caring enough. After all, they were normally drunk or high.

"Um, Carlisle?"

"Yes, _tesoro_?"

"Um… Esme always… lays with me as I go to sleep at night. I think her coldness is soothing or something, but with her not here right now, I don't know if I can fall asleep," I said, hoping he got what I was asking.

"Yes, darling, I will lay with you, if you'd like." He smiled as he turned off the light and laid down beside me. I placed a small pillow on his stomach — making him laugh — and then rested my head down on top of it. He rested his hand on my back as I sighed and wrapped my arm around him — closing my eyes.

"Are you comfortable?" I could just hear his smile.

"Very, thank you, daddy," I sighed contently. This felt right, I felt… at home.

**Esme's POV**

I was very pleased when I returned home this morning. It was just after five o'clock and Carlisle was laying with a sleeping Cole. He had his head propped up with some pillows and a book in hand. A pillow rested on his stomach, which Cole's head laid on. She was sound asleep. I instantly knew they had worked out their problem, but I was still curious as to what exactly caused the rift.

Carlisle explained how their conversation went. I wasn't surprised by Cole's reasoning, though, I certainly did not agree with it. That child was not broken. Though all she's been through has left her scared, she's not broken. I've never met a braver child — a stronger child.

I slid into the bed next to Carlisle. He wrapped one arm around me and the other was around the sleeping form of Cole. I gently kissed her cheek. I didn't want to wake her, but I did want to show her my love. Maybe now that she had accepted Carlisle as her father, she would accept me as her mother. Carlisle said I had nothing to worry about in that area — that she wanted us to be her parents.

Around nine in the morning, Cole started to stir, and then cough. Her coughing sounded so painful, but Carlisle looked pleased.

"That's what I like to hear," Carlisle said as Cole sat up to take a deep breath.

"You like hearing me cough up a lung?" Cole asked, incredulously, with no humor.

"You are not coughing up a lung, _tesoro. _I promise you that. Coughing is your body's way of expelling the fluid buildup. That's why I try not to give you too much cough syrup. Surprisingly, you need to cough in order to get better. That's why I like to hear it. Every cough tells me you're getting better."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Yeah, I feel like a million bucks!"

"Merry Christmas! Or well, Merry Christmas Eve!" I said with a warm smile as her eyes rested upon me.

"Merry Christmas… mom."

My face lit up and my heart felt like it would explode as I pulled her close to me. Carlisle was sandwiched in the middle

"I love you sweetie!" I said as my voice broke. I was getting choked up, but right now was not the time for tears, this was a happy time. I was thrilled.

"I love you too," she said, trying to breath.

"Esme, I think you have her a little tight. Unlike us, her lungs do need to expand." Carlisle laughed as I loosened my grip and let her go with a smile.

"We need to get downstairs!" I exclaimed. It was time for baking! Baking with my daughter!

"Why?" Cole asked, confused.

"Baking!" I said with a large smile and laugh. "I promised Josh and the rest of the ER staff some goodies since they're working Christmas Eve. Would you please help me?"

"I've never… baked." Her cheeks flushed.

I smiled. "Oh well, I guess now's the time to learn."

"Believe me, Cole, even though Esme may not be able to eat what she makes, I've never heard a bad word about her concoctions. Josh can't get enough of her food," Carlisle said.

"Oh, that's sweet." I smirked, kissing his cheek before climbing off the bed. I went over and helped Cole down, and then took her hand.

"I have to… human moment," Cole said before biting her lip.

I let her hand go and she went into the bathroom. Carlisle stood from the bed and swooped me into a passionate kiss, which left me dizzy like a school girl. He could always do that though, make a vampire dizzy.

"Thank you," he whispered as our lips parted just a touch, and then he kissed me again.

"Whatever for, _mio caro_?"

"If you hadn't pushed me, Cole would still be short with me. So thank you, _mio amore_. You always know what I need — even if it's a swift kick in the behind."

"I am just glad you two were able to work it out. Now, I expect you to be helping us bake," I said, poking his chest. "No excuses."

He pulled me into a hug. "Baking with my girls." He paused "I can't think of a better way to spend my day."

A few hours and many laughs later, the kitchen was a disaster, but we did bake. Cole truly hadn't baked before and Carlisle had always been useless in the kitchen, so I did most of the work, but my goodness was it fun. At one point, Cole covered Carlisle with flour. She had placed the flour in the mixer for me, but hadn't included the eggs or milk when she turned it on. Flour went everywhere, but for the most part, managed to cover Carlisle. He, in return, decided Cole would look better with the chocolate sauce on her face. Children! Both of them! But again, it was just so priceless and adorable that the mess didn't matter.

As I cleaned up, Carlisle took Cole upstairs to clean her neck. He wanted to be sure nothing got close to the line. I needed to ask him when that could come out. I was sure Cole wouldn't miss it, and I don't know why she'd need it much longer. She was eating real food and the pneumonia had gotten much better. She still received antibiotics, but I was sure that wouldn't be for much longer.

I heard the shower come on, and then felt Carlisle's arms wrap around my waist. I laughed. He was not getting out of cleaning up with some kissing.

"This is a sponge and this is cleaner. Use them." I smiled, handing him the two items. He just needed to clean the counters off. I had cleaned the dishes and later I'd do the floor once the counters are done. He kissed me once more on the cheek before getting to work.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Edited 8/11/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Esme's POV**

Carlisle loaded the box full of Tupperware into the Mercedes as Cole waited patiently on the sofa for the car to warm up. Carlisle didn't want to take any risks with her health, so he had her stay inside until the car was warm enough. I had to say, she looked adorable in the clothes I bought. She wore a cute pair of dark jeans that were tucked into a pair of light brown boots, and a red sweater under a white puffy vest. She had a scarf of Carlisle's wrapped securely around her neck. Apparently, he had her wear it when he took her with him to the hospital, and now she had claimed it as her own — wearing it around the house loosely. She had a knit hat that went down past her ears — the little puff balls rested on her shoulders with her double french braids. She really loved it when I braided her hair like that for her, and I love doing it. She was getting a little red in the cheeks, probably from being so warm, but she was just so cute that I had to take a picture.

"Smile," I said as I zoomed in on her face.

She turned to me, smiling, as the camera flashed and she blinked a few times. This would go in a scrapbook as our first family outing. I had planned to document everything we did as if she were a baby. I knew it was a little… late, but I want to document everything so she had a way to remember like we do. I had planned to have it made for her birthday next year, which would give me plenty of time to collect pictures of every holiday or exciting moment we shared.

I heard the car being pulled from the garage up to the front door, which meant Carlisle deemed it warm enough. I couldn't get enough of seeing him in his fatherly mode. He was such a great man and I've always known him to be a good father to Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper, but he's different with Cole… More protective, more paternal. They were vampires — predators — so Carlisle and I never had to worry about them falling ill or being hurt. A few times we had to worry about them hurting others, not the other way around. Over the last week, Carlisle had changed so much. Even if it wasn't visible, Cole had changed him. Before Cole, his main concern was the hospital. Now, I wasn't saying he was neglectful of his home life, because he wasn't. He would just work so much, and even when he was home, I could tell the hospital was on his mind. That trip to Duluth was supposed to be a trip to New York, but we didn't go because of the hospital — because he didn't want to go far from it. He had his excuse, other staff members were getting sick and he might be needed — might be needed. I would never be more grateful for that "might". If we didn't go to Duluth, Cole would have died. We'd have never met her and never gotten the chance to love her.

"_Amore_? Are you all right?" Carlisle asked, pulling me out of my own mind and back to reality. He must have just come back in — snow was still in his blond hair. It was just starting to melt from the warmth of the house.

"I'm fine, just thinking. Is it snowing again?" I asked, knowing full well it was.

"Just a touch." He smiled. I wrapped my arms around his waist and stood on my toes — touching our lips together.

"_Ti amo, mia cara,_" I whispered as our lips parted.

"_Come ti ho, belle,_" he said kissing me again softly.

"We should get going. Is the car warm enough?"

"I believe so." He smiled as Cole and I walked out the front door. He followed behind locking up the house.

Cole slid in back and I shut the door for her, and then I got up front with Carlisle. The ride to the hospital really didn't take too long. Carlisle pulled into his designated spot and turned off the car within twenty minutes. We weren't far from an entrance that he could access, so Cole was fine to walk in from the car. Carlisle retrieved the box of baked goods, while I opened Cole's door for her and helped her out. We walked the few feet to the door, Carlisle slid his ID badge through a reader, and it unlocked for us as we went in.

When we got to the nurse's station of the ER, Carlisle put the box down and I went through, pulling out the goodies. Carlisle made Cole take a seat, since he didn't want her to get tired. She had been up a lot today, the most so far, so he didn't want her health to deteriorate again. I heard Josh start singing as he approached us. It wasn't really singing, more like that sound in movies when an angel appears — that throaty hum halleluiah.

"Esme Cullen, my favorite person in the world!" Josh said as Carlisle handed him a tin that I put together just for him.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Carlisle asked.

"Did you bake these amazing treats?" Josh asked — eyebrows raised.

"I helped, and so did Cole. Why do you think they taste so much better?" Carlisle laughed.

"I wouldn't say they helped," I said. "My kitchen still has flour in every nook and cranny." I smiled as Josh reached to Cole for a hug before patting her head. She rolled her eyes at the gesture. More of the staff came and enjoyed the treats, and at one point, I was almost positive none of the patients were being cared for. Everyone was crowed around the tins.

"So, baby girl, how are you feeling?" Josh asked Cole.

"A lot better. I don't look like warmed over death right now, do I?"

"Eh." He shrugged his shoulders. Cole lightly pushed his arm.

"She's doing much better. She's even able to eat some now," Carlisle said. He beamed with pride in his daughter.

"Have you tried these amazingly delicious cookies?" Josh asked, waving the cookie around.

"Not yet," Cole said.

He broke a piece off and handed it to her. Carlisle and I watched in anticipation. She hadn't tried eating anything solid yet, just soups and the occasional hard candy that she sucked on until it was gone. She put the piece in her mouth and chewed as her face lit up.

"Oh, my God, Esme! This is amazing!"

She smiled, taking a full cookie out of Josh's hand. He acted hurt as she took a big bite and mumbled "mmm" or something along those lines.

_Note to self, Cole loves peanut butter cookies with milk chocolate morsels. _

I grinned as I watched her enjoy the treat with Carlisle. He took my hand and flashed me a smile.

We stayed in the ER for a good twenty minutes until Josh had to get back to work. After leaving a good amount of the tins at the nurse's station, Carlisle carried the rest up to the surgical floor — our next stop. I wrapped an arm around Cole's shoulder as we got in the elevator. She looked a little tired, which was understandable considering how much she had been out of bed today. Maybe this trip wasn't the best of ideas, but I knew if Carlisle thought for even a second it would be detrimental to her health, he wouldn't have allowed it.

As the elevator dinged and the door opened, Cole and I stepped out with Carlisle behind us. We walked towards the counter where some nurse's and a few other staff members where. Obviously, today hadn't been the busiest day for surgical procedures — only emergency ones were being done.

Carlisle started talking to a few of his coworkers, while Cole stood to the side with me. A few people greeted Cole and congratulated us on the new addition to our family. After a bit, I looked at Cole. She was getting a little green, and suddenly her hand shot over her mouth as her eyes frantically began searching. I hurried and grabbed the closest trash bin placing it under her chin as I lead her to the bathroom. We didn't make it, and my poor child heaved violently in front of everyone. That fact made her cry as I helped her into the bathroom — just in time for round two. She sat on the floor as I held her two braids back with one hand. The other was on her forehead — clearing her face of her bangs. It was just so violent — her heaves. At one point, a nurse came in to help. She brought some water and napkins with her. Cole cautiously took a sip in between sobs.

"Uhh ahowww," she cried, just as the door opened and another nurse came in to see if she could help.

"I think we've got it. Tell Carlisle she's all right, but I think we should head home," I said as I dabbed Cole's face with a wet cloth. I needed a new one.

"All right, thank you for the cookies, Mrs. Cullen," the young woman said as Cole heaved again at the mention of cookies.

I rubbed her back and took her hat off as I tried hushing her cries with a kiss to her temple. After a few minutes, she hadn't vomited again, so we tried more water — which thankfully, she kept down. I went over to the sink to wet another cloth, and then dabbed her forehead and cleaned her mouth. She mumbled thank you before I helped her up. She swayed a little, so I sat her back down on the floor and asked the nurse that was still with us to get Carlisle. He could carry her out without anyone being suspicious of his strength. I on the other hand could not — even if she was as tiny as a stick.

"What's wrong?" Carlisle asked as he busted through the door — anxiously looking to Cole. He gave her a once over with his eyes and obviously found no physical injuries.

"I don't want her to fall and when she tried to stand up she swayed," I said as he sighed — relieved that Cole was all right.

He came closer and kneeled down beside Cole. He put one arm under her legs and the other on her back as he lifted her up. She wrapped an arm around his neck and bit her lip — embarrassed.

I came over and whispered in her ear. "Don't be embarrassed. Ninety-percent of the people outside of this bathroom will wish they could be you, which includes men," I told her as she sighed a laugh.

"I'll trade." She smirked.

"That cuts me deep, sweetie. I'm hurt you don't want to be in my arms," Carlisle teased.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather jump out the window and have you catch me. I really don't want to face them," she said as she flushed.

"Hide your face in my chest. Don't look," he told her laying a kiss on her temple as she did as he said. She dug her face into him and relaxed her arms so she looked asleep. After a quick goodbye and assuring everyone Cole was fine, we left — leaving the cookies to be eaten by anyone except Cole.

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

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**Translations: **

Ti amo, mia cara: I love you, my dear.

Come ti ho, belle: As I you, beautiful.

**Please Review?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Edited 8/11/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

On the ride back home from the hospital, Cole fell asleep. She was exhausted from being up all day even though it was only five o'clock in the evening. Still, she made it about eight hours without a nap — the longest she's gone so far. She was building up her strength, which pleased me greatly. Obviously, it was still a little soon for cookies. She had three after all, so she might have been all right with just one, but three definitely overdid it. I probably should have stopped her, but she was enjoying them so I didn't. But then she became ill.

I pulled into the garage and shut off the car before turning to Esme. "For the most part, I think that was a great trip." I smiled taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

"Yes, I agree it was fun. I particularly enjoyed when people congratulated us. I feel so fortunate to have Cole in our lives, and for that I need to thank you. You've done so much for her. You've been so much for her. I think she may be a daddy's girl."

"If only," I murmured.

I've never realized how fortunate I was. Cole could have very easily turned us away and wanted nothing to do with us, but she didn't. She gave me the opportunity to experience a love I never knew possible.

I opened my door and stood from the car before going to open Esme's. She kissed my cheek as she got out. I then opened the backdoor and effortlessly lifted Cole. She twitched a bit, but didn't wake up as I carried her up the stairs and into her room. Esme had just pulled her blankets down, so I could set her in the bed. Cole curled up on her side and immediately hugged the pillow beside her as she dug her face in with a sigh. Esme pulled the blankets back up and laid a sweet kiss on her temple. I did the same before we quietly left her room, so she could get the sleep she needed.

"She did amazing today, didn't she? Eight hours with no nap!" Esme exclaimed as we retreated into our temporary room.

I sat on the bed, pulling off my tie as she went into the closet and retrieved bags with Cole's gifts and wrapping items. She laid the laptop down in front of me with the phone and the gift I had made just for Cole.

The surprise was actually almost ruined. Last night, when I turned my laptop to Cole, I had left the custom jewelry site open. She assumed it was for Esme, which I was grateful for. I had a necklace made for Cole. It was temporary, a place holder until my normal custom jeweler could complete a Cullen crest. He took weeks, so I knew it wouldn't be done in time for Christmas. And the design I wanted made for Cole would take even longer. I had talked to another jeweler a few days ago and bought a white gold heart with a few small diamonds on the front. The back I had engraved, "_Con tutto il mio amore, Tesoro"_. It said, "With all my love, Sweetheart" in Italian. Last night, the jeweler had sent me a link with the picture — that was what was open on my computer.

The necklace itself wasn't delivered until early this morning, and I had yet to look at it. I opened the package and pulled out the pink velvet necklace case from its cardboard sleeve. That was custom as well. I opened the box, and the necklace was perfect — just how I wanted it.

"May I see?" Esme ask, placing more and more bags on the bed with clothing boxes. I handed her the pink case and she smiled as her fingers inspected the piece.

"It's perfect and the case is a nice touch. She loves pink." She giggled, sitting down on my lap.

"Do you think she'll wear it? I don't even know if she likes necklaces."

She laughed and patted my cheek. "She's a girl. We girls love jewelry and even if she doesn't like wearing necklaces, she'll have it for special occasions. But, _amore_?" she asked, looking in my eyes. "She'll love it; I know she will." She smiled closing the case. I slipped it back into the protective cover and set it down.

"All right, so what are we doing?" I asked as she slid off of me and started rummaging through the bags.

"We are wrapping! But first, I thought it would be best if you went ahead and set up her electronics — that way she can use them right away. I figured we would just put a ribbon around the laptop with a bow and leave it out of the box — same with the phone. She's going to have enough to unwrap." She giggled, looking over the mounds of clothing, bedding, trinkets, purses, and God only knows what else. Esme was right, Cole will be unwrapping for hours and if it weren't for our speed, it would take all evening and night to get this done.

After setting up the electronics for use, Esme wrapped two ribbons around the laptop with a large pink bow and placed a small pink bow on the phone. She had me wrapping the clothing boxes in pink, red, and white paper. I had already made a large pile on the floor next to me and I wasn't even close to halfway done. All I could think was poor Cole. If today had worn her out, tomorrow would be much worse. Just as I finished another box, a blood wrenching scream echoed through the house.

"Please! Don't!" Cole screamed as we ran into her room. She was thrashing around on the bed. "Kill me!" she yelled as I tried to shake her awake.

Her heart rate was tachy and irregular. Obviously, this was a horrid nightmare, but all my gentle shaking didn't pull her out. She kept screaming for someone to kill her. To kill her and leave "them" alone. She begging someone not to do something.

"Cole, wake up!" I said — my voice desperate as I tried to pull her back to reality. Esme tried to hold her face and murmured for her to please come back to us.

"I'm sorry! Carlisle, I'm sorry!" Cole yelled as her face contorted in pain and tears streamed down her beat red cheeks. I tried once more to wake her up. This time by pulling her into my chest. She bucked away from me before her eyes jolted open.

"Carlisle!" she cried, pulling me closer.

Her little hands scratched at my back in a desperate attempt to keep me in her grip as she buried her face in my chest and sobbed. I placed a hand on the back of her head and hushed her gently as I rocked her. Esme rubbed her back and Cole went from my arms to hers in seconds.

"I'm sorry, Esme!" Cole sobbed, wrapping her arms around Esme's neck as tightly as she could.

"It's all right, honey, just calm down. You just had a nightmare, and it's over," Esme told her as I took over rubbing Cole's back.

"Please don't die!" Cole cried, surprising Esme and myself. Is that what was happening in her dream? We were dying and Cole wanted someone to "kill" her instead?

"_Tesoro, _we are not going to die. I'm well over three-hundred years old and Esme is over one-hundred. We're not going anywhere darling; we won't die," I said.

"He killed you…" she whimpered as her sobs eased.

She lifted her head and turned back towards me. Her cheeks were flush and tears were starting to dry on her face, so I took a blanket and wiped her cheeks.

"No one will kill me," I said, placing my free hand on her forehead to cool her.

She worked up a sweat thrashing around and what not. Her heart rate was still quite high. My touch, or Esme's for that matter, had always been soothing to her and just as I assumed, with Esme holding her and my hand on her face, her heart started to slow even more. We calmed her down with our touch. That was why she hadn't really had a nightmare like this. Normally, one of us is with her — lying with her. And even when we're not, she wasn't alone very long.

Today, she had been sleeping alone for about four hours — it was probably closer to five. She had fallen asleep just after five and now it was getting close to ten. I didn't know why it took so long for the nightmare to start, but I did know she hasn't had one when we were with her. After a good twenty minutes, Cole had calmed down and stopped crying. She was nuzzled in between Esme and I on the bed.

"Honey, are you hungry? Its past dinner, but you should still eat," Esme suggested.

"Yes, I agree you should either have some soup or a shake."

"I'll take soup. Just a little, though. My tummy's a little… uneasy right now. Thank you, mom and dad."

Esme and I both kissed her temple — me on one side Esme on the other. Esme kissed her twice before standing up. She flashed Cole a smile then walked out and downstairs.

"Are you all right, _tesoro_?" I asked, pulling her into my side.

"I don't know," she said truthfully as her bottom lip jutted out and she took it between her front teeth. That was habit of hers — biting her lip — but it normally followed by a blush.

"What don't you know? Do you want to talk about the nightmare? Maybe I can be of some help."

"It was just… so horrible. You and Esme were dying. He was killing you guys and making me watch as he took the most important thing from me," she said, trying to fight back her tears.

"You know, it's not easy for Esme and I do be hurt, right? Can you tell me who was hurting us?"

"M…Mark. And yeah, I know you guys are really strong and stuff, but in my dream you weren't. You were just like me — human." She whispered the last word.

"Well, dear, we're not human. We act human, but I promise we can't die like a human could. Only other vampires could hurt us, and they would have to either be a newborn or much older than me. We are at our strongest in the first few months of our life and then again the older we get. Besides, there are two of us, and with Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper, it would take more than one being to hurt us," I said, trying to rationalize her fears a little. Trying to get her to understand Mark could never hurt us.

There was about a million to one chance of him becoming a vampire, and I highly doubt that would happen. No nomads have come anywhere near this area — we would have known considering our hunting grounds. Besides, last time I spoke to Alice, I asked her to keep as best of an eye as possible on Cole's future. If Mark were a vampire, she'd be the first to know.

She looked up as her eyelashes batted a few times. "Like I said, you were human."

"Well, we can't become human again, so again it's not plausible. A nightmare can be very scary and seem so real, but it's not. Esme and I will always be here to reassure you of that."

"I haven't had a nightmare since I met you guys, why now?"

"I think it has something to do with us. You rarely sleep alone and today you did. Even if one of us has to be touching you while you sleep, we will. We'll do our best to keep the nightmares away. I'm sorry for not realizing that might happen," I told her as she let out a snort and a laugh — surprising me. Did my daughter really just make _that _sound?

"You hold yourself to such a high standard, taking blame for things you can't help. Why do you do that?"

"I don't know, but the responsibility for this family is on me. I just take it a little far, I guess. Now did you just snort?" I chuckled.

"Shut up." She smirked, resting her face against my chest.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	11. Chapter 11

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

I woke up, but still felt so tired, so I closed my eyes once more — fully intending to go back to sleep. I didn't, because my face was softly touched by a nice cold hand. It felt good on my warm cheek and I let out a little sigh from the relief.

"Her fever is back," Carlisle said as my eyes shot open.

Esme was standing right next to him and her facial expression was one of worry. Like, if someone was expecting something good to happen, and then bam, something bad happened.

"I can breathe," I whispered, taking in as much air as I could — much more than I had been able to.

Overall, I felt better except for how tired I was and my cold yet warmness. I was cold, but my face was burning up — even causing a thin layer of sweat to form on my forehead. It wasn't new to me; I've had a fever, but it went away the day after I first called Carlisle daddy and had my little melt down of self-doubt. The past few days I had been getting better, a lot better. I mean, I was even able to get out of the house yesterday. Yeah, it didn't end very well, but that was my own fault. I ate too many cookies.

"I know you can, _tesoro_, but that doesn't change the fact that your fever has come back. It's not as high as it has been, but still, you have a fever. I want to get an accurate reading. I'll be right back," Carlisle said as he disappeared, but then reappeared moments later — an otoscope and thermometer in hand.

I slid myself up and rested up against the pillows. It was then I realized how dizzy I was.

_God, why can't I just get better? _

Carlisle gently pulled my ear and slid the thermometer in. It beeped and he took it out.

"One-oh-one point six. It's not dangerously high, but I still don't like it. Can you say "ah" for me?" he asked as I rolled my eyes — getting a light chuckle from Esme.

Carlisle wasn't amused, though. He wore a stern professional expression, so I did as he asked and said "ah" as he shined a light in my mouth with one hand and held my tongue down with a depressor in the other.

"No sign of infection there. Let me check your ears, nose, and eyes," he said before continuing the exam. He was quick, though. A perk of having a vampire doctor/father. "Nothing… maybe your abdomen," he murmured more to himself than me as he pressed against my stomach tapping his hand with his other. Nothing hurt, so I didn't say anything.

"Could she have maybe over done it yesterday?" Esme asked, walking around to the other side of the bed climbing in next to me.

"Possibly, but that doesn't explain the fever. I'm going to draw some blood and run a few tests to find the source of infection."

He left the room again. This time he came back with a large syringe and three vials with different color tops. Without saying much besides hold still, he put the syringe into my central line and drew out blood — enough to fill all of the vials, which was what he did. The red blood and green top on one of them suddenly clicked in my mind. Today was Christmas; it was Christmas morning! And here I was, sick. Fantastic, right?

"Merry Christmas?" I said. It sounded more like a question than a statement. Esme smiled lovingly, bringing her lips to my cheek — kissing it softly.

"Yes, Merry Christmas, honey," she said.

I noticed the distinct lack of words Carlisle gave. No good morning, Merry Christmas, even I love you was missing — he normally said that when I woke up. That told me he was seriously concerned — that and his expression of course.

"Carlisle, look at me please?" I asked as his eyes rose to meet mine. "I love you," I said and his expression lightened up some.

"I love you, too. Merry Christmas, _tesoro_. I apologize. I'm just trying to think about what could be going on with you. I really didn't anticipate this reoccurrence and it's worried me."

"I really do feel all right, much better than I had been, just not as good as yesterday. Please, Carlisle, just put off the blood work for a little bit?"

He sighed, bowing his head. "All right but…"

I interrupted him. "I'll tell you if I start feeling bad or if something changes. It's Christmas and I want you guys to open your gifts from me."

I smile as I reached over to my side table and opened the top drawer. Esme's gift, along with a letter for her and Carlisle were inside, as was the photo I picked out just for Carlisle. I placed the gifts on the bed and resituated myself, handing Esme her wrapped scrapbook.

"I hope you like it. It's not much, nothing fancy, and more or less homemade," I said as she took it and slid her finger under the paper — removing it in seconds. She opened the book to the first page where I had placed the letter.

"Esme, I love you so much more than I can ever show you. Thank you for caring and loving me. I've dreamt of the perfect mother and not even my dreams come close to you. You're amazing and so passionate with your love. You show me that love way more than once a day — each glance shows me that love. Like I said, I can't express my feelings — there's no real words. I hope you like this gift. Carlisle helped and did more of the work than I did, but just know it's from the bottom of my heart and soul," she read aloud with a small smile playing on her lips as she started to flip the pages.

"Oh, honey! I love it. Thank you so much; it's perfect!" she said as she wrapped her arms around me. She really meant what she said. I could tell just by how she held me and kissed the top of my head.

"I'm glad you like it, but like the letter says, Carlisle did most of the work," I told her as we pulled apart — but not before another kiss to my cheek.

"Well, than, thank you, Carlisle. I think you both did wonderful. It's the perfect gift and now I have plenty of pictures of my baby girl."

"We can add to it," Carlisle said as he sat down in front of me. "There are plenty of blank pages in my office. I couldn't fill them all, so I removed them, but it's easy to replace them. But Cole, isn't a picture missing?" Carlisle asked as I lightly laughed, handing him the letter I wrote for him.

Inside the folded paper held another picture — my favorite one. The one where Esme was holding me and gazing down at me as I slept. I decided to give that him because if he wanted, he could put it in his office at work or his study here. Esme looked so amazing in it. Unlike Esme, Carlisle didn't read his letter out loud. It was a little longer than Esme's, and as he read, I watched his lips curl into a smile. He took the photo in one hand and held it up to look at it.

"It's my favorite. Esme looks like an angel." I said.

"_Tesoro, _it was my favorite as well. I agree that Esme looks amazing in it, but you, _mio caro, _look like an angel. _Un angelo bellissimo_ — a beautiful angel. Esme is a goddess." He smirked at Esme as she rolled her eyes and tried to hide the obvious smirk. "I do wish to say one thing about this letter, _tesoro_. You are not just a human. Far from it," he said, lifting my chin with his pointer finger and thumb. "You are a gift — a blessing. You've made our lives so much better. Each breath you take, means the world to Esme and I. If we could, we would take away anything that pains you and everything you've been through." He moved his hand to my cheek and brushed it lightly with his thumb. "We love you," he added as I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around him — just in time for him to freeze up.

"Someone's here…" he said. His voice was barely above a whisper.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

I heard the car before catching the scent. I wish I had caught the scent first because it would have saved me, Esme, and Cole the distress. I hadn't been expecting anyone, so when I heard the rumble of an engine, it surprised me and my first concern was Cole's safety. I was all but crouching on the floor in front of her. A few more seconds and I would have been.

"Pops! Mama!" Emmett bellowed, even before stepping out of his car. "Where's that human!" he yelled with a laugh.

"Emmett," Esme sighed in relief.

"One of your sons?" Cole asked, moving away from my body that she had just crashed into. I had stiffened right before she made contact, so it probably felt like colliding with a concrete wall.

"Hello!" Emmett bellowed as he and Rose entered the bedroom through the open door.

Emmett had his normal grin — a little larger than normal, actually — but Rose had a scowl. I knew she wasn't happy with Esme and I. She felt strongly about humans getting close to the family — she didn't like it.

I stood from my seat and met Emmett halfway. I wasn't surprised by his bear hug; I actually quite missed it. Next, I kissed Rose's check as Emmett swung Esme around.

"What a great surprise!" Esme said in excitement as she kissed her sons cheek.

I looked back at Cole as she sat on the bed. Her heart rate was elevated a little — she was nervous. She knew about all the children, about how we normally live, and that this was the first time in years we were apart. I was about to introduce each of them when Emmett beat me to the punch.

"So, this is the human I've heard so much about. Well… pops, she is defiantly adorably cute. I'm Emmett by the way!" he said as she bit her lip and her already rosy cheeks flushed more.

"Hi," she said, softly with the wave of a hand.

"I'm gonna have so much fun with her!" Emmett roared with laughter.

"Looks pretty normal to me. What's so great about her? Seriously, she looks anorexic," Rose said with a devilish smirk.

Dear God, I wish I had known they were coming. Maybe I could have prepared Cole for Rose. After all Rose was… hard to get along with to say it nicely.

"Rosalie!" Esme scolded as we all looked at Cole. She was blinking feverishly — trying to rid her eyes of the tears that formed.

"It's um… sorry," Cole said as she scooted toward the foot of the bed. "I need to use… the bathroom," she added as her feet touched the floor and she slid off the bed. I was by her side as she swayed lightly trying to find her equilibrium.

"Are you okay?" I asked, steadying her by her shoulders.

"Fine," she whispered, shaking my hands off of her.

I let her go, a little reluctantly, as she started to walk towards the bathroom. She closed the door, and then I heard the obvious click of the lock before my eyes rested on Rose.

"My study. Now," I said, pointing to her.

She mumbled Merry Christmas as she led the way — leaving Esme and Emmett alone in Cole's room. I wasn't going to let Rose's attitude upset Cole. She was going to know that if she couldn't be nice, she wasn't welcome. As much as it hurt me to even think that, it was true. Cole was fragile right now, and she most certainly didn't deserve Rose's bitter and snide remarks. When she entered my study, I heard her huff a laugh before she sat down.

"Something funny?" I asked, closing the door.

"I love what you've done with the place," she scoffed.

Although Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice all knew about Cole, no one except possibly Alice knew about her past. Though, it wasn't my story to tell, I was going to explain why she needed to be more considerate to Cole.

"You knew about Cole. If you have such a problem with it, then why did you come? And please don't take that as me saying I don't want you here, because that's not true. Having you and Emmett here is an amazing surprise, but you knew Cole was living here. You know Esme and I have taken her as our child," I said, sitting down in my chair behind the oak desk.

"Emmett wanted to come — surprise you guys and that human. I'd much rather be in Paris or Rome, hell, even New York."

"I love seeing both of you. You're my children, but Rosalie, you are not going to disrespect Cole. You have no idea what she's been through or even how Esme and I came across her. She doesn't deserve to be treated rudely by you. She is not anorexic; she's sick. She's just starting to trust us and you are not helping with that attitude."

She rolled her eyes "What's she been through? Foster care? She ran away? Wow, that's horrible.".

"We found her, bruised and broken, freezing to death in an alley. She is not healthy right now and if you add stress to that, she won't get better. So, Rosalie, I'm only going to say this once. Change the attitude or leave," I said sternly.

"So, you choose a human over Emmett and me?"

"Did I say that?"

"Basically."

"Not even close. We want you here for as long as you want to be here. It's your choice. I'm not asking you to be a loving sister or her best friend. I'm asking you to be considerate and polite."

"Why should I be? And you! You told a human what we are! That's against the law. We could all be killed because of you."

"The Volturi are no concern to me. We don't cause problems, so they will never find out. I speak with Aro maybe once a year, if that, and I know he has no reason to check in on us — especially now that we are separated for the time being. Cole won't tell anyone, which is something I do know, so the Volturi finding out that a human knows we exist, is not an issue."

"Why do you even care? What is she to you? I mean, I know you have that ridiculous "saving humans to make up for what I am" complex, but seriously, Carlisle, did you even think how this would affect the rest of us? She's a human who knows entirely too much. You should have taken her to a hospital and let the humans take care of it. Just because you see a stray dog on the street, doesn't mean you take it in."

"She ran from a foster home where she was sexually abused. She ran right into the arms of a man where the abuse escalated to rape. That rapist almost killed her. She isn't a stray dog. She's a human being who needs help and support. Somewhat like you were. Think about that," I said, standing from my chair — leaving her with her mouth agape.

As I walked past her, she grabbed my arm and I stopped. "I'm sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes. I sighed and stood her up — wrapping my arms around her.

I kissed the top of her head. "You are forgiven, Rosalie. I apologize for being so blunt."

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"It really isn't my story to tell and I shouldn't have, but you needed to realize why I am so protective of her. You remember after I changed you, you didn't even speak to me or look at me, but I told you every day I loved you and no one would hurt you again."

"I'm a bitch," she said as I smirked.

"No, you are not a… bitch. You protect your family by keeping others away, but Rosalie, there are times when you have to let people in. If you never let someone in, than we would have never had Alice and Jasper, or even Emmett. Families grow. Our family grew a week ago and I know it's not easy to accept, but you have to because Cole isn't going anywhere. Take a few minutes, and then please come back to Cole's room and please apologize to her."

"I will. I'm sorry, Carlisle," she said, nodding her head.

I left my study and went back to Cole's bedroom. Esme and Emmett were on the bed talking very softly, but Cole wasn't there and the bathroom door was still closed. I could hear her feeble attempts to stifle soft cries and gasps. She was trying so hard not to make a sound and I just wished to go in there and pull her in my arms, but Esme stopped me.

"She wants to be left alone. We tried getting her out, but I think she just needs a few minutes. I told her if she doesn't come out in five minutes, someone is coming in, so she has a few more minutes of alone time."

"Where's Rose? I'm sorry for her behavior. I shouldn't have forced her to come here," Emmett said. His usual joking and carefree demeanor was gone.

"She's in my study. She's coming back, but she just needs a few minutes to collect herself. Why don't you go check on her?" I suggested.

Emmett did as I said after kissing Esme's cheek. I took his seat and wrapped my arms around Esme.

"What an eventful Christmas morning hmm, love?" Esme asked.

"Rose knows," I said as she looked up to me.

"I thought we were going to let Cole decide who she wanted to tell?"

"Rose needed to know and now that she does, she's very apologetic. I didn't tell her everything — just the basics of what Cole's been through. Who knows, Rose might be able to help her in ways we can't. And helping Cole might help Rose let go of some of her anger. Rose may not show it, but she does have a very good heart. The only thing I worry about is her telling Emmett. You know how he reacts to people being hurt like that."

"Christmas is supposed to be such a happy time. Now we have two upset daughters and a son that might explode. How about I go check on Rose and Emmett and you give Cole…" she said, looking at her watch, "Fifty-three more seconds before checking on her. Give her a thirty second warning, though." She kissed my lips and patted my face before standing up and straightening out her silk blouse.

"We'll meet downstairs. Does that sound good?"

"Yes, I love you."

"I love you, too." I smiled as she left the room — closing the door behind her.

I looked at my watch and counted the last few seconds before knocking on Cole's bathroom door.

"Cole, if you don't come out and talk to me in thirty seconds, I'm coming in. Please, do not shut me out, _tesoro_."

I heard her cries strengthen and I sighed. She wasn't coming out on her own. I gripped the doorknob in my hand and twisted it until the lock popped open. I pushed the door in and found Cole sitting on the floor by the bathtub — her knees pulled to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her face had been resting on her knee caps before she looked up to me with swollen, red eyes.

"_Tesoro,_" I whispered, walking over to her and sitting down beside her. I brushed the hair from her face and kissed her cheek.

"There's nothing great about me. You guys already have the perfect family. I just messed it up," she said as her breath quickened more and more. She was starting to hyperventilate, so I rubbed her back gently.

"Rose is a very… difficult person. She is going to apologize for what she said, and trust me, darling, it's not true, even she knows that. She just said that for two reasons. One to get rise out of me because she's wasn't happy with me, and two to hurt you — which it did. She didn't mean it.

"Rosalie sees an addition to this family as changing the dynamics — threatening her place, if you would. The fact that you are human adds to that difficulty." She was now fully hyperventilating and my rubbing wasn't soothing her at all. "Please, calm down, Cole. Your lungs are still healing and hyperventilating isn't going to help. Please, just take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth."

I watched her close her eyes and try to take a deep breath. At least she was trying, though, it wasn't working.

"I," gasp, "can't," gasp, "breathe…" she cried out.

"Yes, you can. If you can tell me you can't breathe, then you can. Just go slowly. In," I said trying it with her, "And out." I exhaled as the door pushed open with Rose standing there.

"Now isn't the time, Rosalie," I said, listening to Cole's lungs.

"Go downstairs. Let me help her," Rose said, taking a seat next to Cole. Her hand flicked mine away as she rubbed Cole's back.

"I'm sorry, Cole. I didn't mean what I said, but you have to calm down," she said as I sat there, most likely looking offended.

"I'm… sorry… I'm human!" Cole cried between gasps.

"Cole, no one is angry with you. Just breath like I showed you."

"Carlisle, go downstairs," Rose said.

"I am not leaving."

"She's upset because of me. Let me fix it and she'll calm down." She glared daggers at me as she wrapped an arm around Cole's shoulders and softly shushed her. "I am so sorry, Cole. I said what I said because I was jealous of you. I came here today thinking Carlisle and Esme replaced their children — us with you. Replaced me with you. I now know that's not true, and that my jealousy was unfounded and childish. No one was replaced. We just added another member."

"I never asked!" Cole cried.

"I know you didn't ask to join the family — none of us did. You see, Carlisle and Esme are… way to loving. If they see someone in pain that they can help, they do. But I know if you didn't fit in this family, if you weren't supposed to be in this family, you wouldn't be."

It was odd watching Rose act like that. She was actually helping Cole. Cole's breathing was getting better — she was starting to calm down. Rose was helping her. I reluctantly stood up after kissing Cole's head.

"I'll be downstairs. Come when you're ready. And Rosalie, you may have to carry her," I said as Rose nodded. "Okay, Cole, do you need me here?"

"I'm fine," she gasped as Rose pulled her a little closer.

I turned around — looking back a few times as I left the bathroom. Part of me couldn't believe I was leaving Cole alone with Rose. The person who caused this, but Rose had helped where I hadn't. Right now, Cole needed Rose, not me. As ridiculous as that sounded to me, it was true.

I walked downstairs and found Esme with Emmett in the family room by the large Christmas tree.

"Carlisle," Emmett said as I took a seat next to Esme.

"Is Cole all right?" Esme asked.

"Rose is with her… She's calming down."

We waiting, talking about life in general for a good twenty minutes before Rose and Cole made their way down the stairs. Cole was walking on her own, but she was being supported by Rose's arm around her back. Her little feet were barely touching the floor — Rose was keeping her standing. Rose sat Cole down in between Esme and I before she herself went to the other sofa and sat with Emmett.

"How are you feeling, _tesoro_?" I asked as my right hand glided across her forehead while my left gently took her wrist and checked her pulse. She was still feverish, which concerned me, but her pulse was good and strong. I listened to her lungs. They still had the distinct sound of crackling and wheezing, but compared to a few days ago, it was so much better.

"I'm okay," she said shaking my hand from her wrist. "You're not very smooth." She lightly smirked. I couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Not fooling you?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p' as I laughed a bit more. Esme, Rose, and Emmett joined in.

"Well, it's still technically Christmas morning and though, Esme and I have opened our gifts, you have not," I said.

Esme pulled Cole closer and the two both settled into the couch in a more comfortable position.

"Seriously! Kid, Esme and Carlisle gift the best gifts. You should have been up at four o'clock this morning tearing the wrapping paper!" Emmett laughed, hoping off the sofa and grabbing a few of the boxes.

He tossed them to me and I stacked them on the floor and coffee table in front of Cole. When he threw me the necklace box, I opened Cole's hand and placed it there.

"I think you should start with this one."

I smiled as she blushed and turned the box — removing the paper and bow to revel the cardboard sleeve. Once that was off, she lightly fingered the pink velvet before opening it. Her little gasp will always be etched in my mind as will the smile that followed.

"It's… beautiful," she whispered, pulling out the necklace and examining it. "What does it mean?"

"_Con tutto il mio amore, Tesoro._ It means "With all my love, Sweetheart". I wasn't sure if you'd like a necklace, but I wanted you to have something special from me."

"I… love it… it's so perfect," she said, tearing up as she held it out to me. "Help me?" she asked as I took the chain from her. She lifted her hair and I undid the clasp before securing it around her neck.

"I'm glad you like it _tesoro_. Just to let you know, this is a place holder. As you may or may not have noticed, Esme and I, as well as the other children, wear the same piece," I said, showing her my ring. "It's a Cullen Crest. Esme wears a bracelet, Rose and Alice a necklace, and Emmett and Jasper wear wristbands. I wear mine as a wedding ring. There is a necklace being made just for you, but it takes time. Now, this necklace will always be something you can wear, but I did have it made as a place holder. That doesn't mean once your crest is done you have to give it back. You can keep this forever as your very first Christmas gift." I smiled.

"It's perfect. Thank you. Merry Christmas, daddy."

She wrapped her arms around me. I relished in the moment as I breathed in her sweet scent. It was Christmas, and I held my newest daughter in my arms — loving every second.

"Merry Christmas, _tesoro_," I whispered in her ear.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

Christmas had passed, as well as New Years. Cole was much better. She could eat solid foods now and hadn't had a fever since Christmas day. Her breathing was back to normal with no wheezing or crackles, so it's safe to say her pneumonia had resolved.

Rose and Emmett left a few days after the new year, but not before Emmett forced me on a long hunt with him. I was very reluctant to leave Cole for three days, but I did after she assured me she would be fine — and she was. Rose and Esme took her shopping in in Minneapolis. They also had a spa day when they returned home. Rose did her nails and cut her hair. She texted me with a picture and a text saying she felt like a new person. After I had returned home, Cole had another nightmare while we were with her. That worried me seeing as how Esme and I were both lying with her. I could tell the nightmare really shook her up, but she insisted she was fine, so I let her be. She has had many nightmares since — at least twice a week.

Rose and Cole had developed a close relationship. They even text each other now that Rose is gone. It's good to see Cole happy, and I must thank Rose for that. They spoke quite a bit. I tried not to listen in, but I did catch some of their talks. Rose had told Cole what happened to her — how she "died". Cole cried during that conversation, though, I didn't blame her. Rosalie's story wasn't a happy one. It wasn't a fairytale in any sense. It's sad, horrifying, and heartbreaking, but Rose did tell Cole how things get easier.

That was also the first time I heard Cole's entire story. Though I knew most of it, I couldn't help but become angry at the man that hurt her so badly. Emmett was even worse, though. He had all but resolved to hunt down Mark and kill him for hurting his "little human sister", as he called her. It took Esme and I to convince him not to — that Mark wasn't worth it. Though, part of me disagreed and would have gone with Emmett to make it as painful as possible.

I would have broken every small bone in his body, taking a break in between so that he didn't pass out from the pain, and then and only after I knew I had inflicted as much pain as possible, I would have ended his miserable existence — I couldn't even call it a life. Those thoughts scared me some. Never before had I truly wanted to or even gone as far as planning a murder. It wasn't me and it took Cole for me to remember that. I held her closer to me than normal that night as she slept. I whispered "I love you" more, as well.

Now, it was mid-January, and I had returned to work. It was difficult to be away from the house all day and sometimes all night. I missed Esme and Cole — I missed our time as a family. I even went as far as telling Mary — the woman who made schedules — that I could no longer work as many doubles, and holidays were out of the question. She only agreed because of the money I donate every year and the fact that they couldn't find another doctor like me. My skills were irreplaceable for the salary I allow. Anyone else even half as good as me would cost them much, much more.

I most likely sounded quite pompous, but I was all right with that as long as I could spend more time at home. My schedule was now mostly set in stone. I went in at seven o'clock in the morning and left by three in the afternoon — except when I was needed in surgery. That allowed me more time at home, since I also have weekends off.

I was extremely thankful as I walked back to the nurse's station from an exam room and looked at my watch. It was quarter 'til three, and Friday, which meant my work week was over in fifteen minutes. I small smile formed on my lips as I filled in the chart and placed it back in the bin. I noticed Josh watching me from his seat with a crossword puzzle in his hands, but I didn't acknowledge it until he laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked.

"You… I've never seen you so thrilled to get out of here. In fact, this week has been the first time I've ever seen you leave on time."

"Things change, hmm?" I asked, looking over the PT board as my cell phone started to buzz on my hip.

I pulled it out and accepted the call from Cole "Hello, _tesoro_. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, um… I was just wondering when you would be home?"

"I'm leaving here in a few minutes. Is everything alright?" I asked as Josh handed me a few charts that I needed to sign off on.

"Yeah, I was just wondering when we were going to the movie."

I smiled. Tonight, since Esme needed to hunt, I promised Cole we would go out for dinner and a movie. She hadn't really been out of the house much, so I thought it would be a good idea.

"I have yet to check times, but I thought we would leave around five."

"Do… do we have to go to Duluth?" she asked — her voice obviously nervous.

"I thought you wanted to go to a 3D movie? The closest theater playing one is in Duluth. If you don't want to, I'm sure I can find another theater," I said as Josh shook his head no.

"The closest good theater is in Duluth. The one in town went out of business a few months back," Josh told me.

"Actually, darling, Josh is telling me Duluth is the closest theater. If you'd rather, we can go to Minneapolis tomorrow and spend the day there."

"No, it's all right. Duluth is fine. I just didn't know if we had any closer options. You know, in case you have to go back to work," she said.

I could tell her reasoning was a lie. Her voice became a little higher and she spoke a little faster when she lied. Her real reason for not wanting to go to Duluth was obvious. That was where she had lived her entire life, and that was where Mark had hurt her. And considering the likely hood of him moving, he was still probably there.

"How about we talk more when I get home? I'm just now finishing my charts, and then I'll sign out and be on my way."

"All right… I love you."

"I love you, too. I'll see you soon, _tesoro_," I said before hanging up the phone and clipping it back into the holster on my hip.

"She all right?" Josh asked as I closed the last chart and clicked my pen before putting it back in my lab coat pocket.

"Yes, we are going to a movie tonight since Esme will be out of town and I don't think she wants to go to Duluth is all."

He knew more than anyone else in the hospital about Cole. I could talk to him and I knew it would stay with him.

"Maybe it's a little too soon. I mean, from what you've told me, some really bad stuff happened to her there. It wouldn't be weird for her to be afraid."

"I agree, but we're trying to help her through those fears. Her nightmares are getting worse and if she doesn't start to confront them soon, they'll just keep getting worse. I'll talk to her when I get home and if I really think going would be a bad idea, we can just wait until tomorrow and make the drive to Minneapolis."

"That reminds me. You know how my sister is a therapist?"

"I do."

"Well, here's her card, just in case Cole needs to talk to someone else. She's always accepting new patients and her office is just down town — not too far."

He passed me the paper business card. I put it in my pocket and thanked him before going to the computer to sign out.

I had considered the benefits of Cole speaking with a professional, but my concern was she couldn't tell them everything. She couldn't tell them about Esme and I, or how we found her, since technically the adoption wasn't legal. Esme and I talked about moving, but we hadn't come to a decision, and we certainly did not want Cole to think it was because of her. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind leaving Minnesota. We hadn't been here long, so it might seem odd, but it would give Cole a fresh start. It would give us a fresh start as a family.

My drive home was uneventful and I pulled into the garage approximately twenty minutes after talking to Cole on the phone. I could hear the shower in Cole's room running, so she must have decided to go ahead and get cleaned up. When I walked in, I found Esme in the kitchen finishing some meals for Cole — ones that I could just heat up while she was gone. I greeted her by wrapping my arms around her waist and nuzzling my face into the side of her neck — taking in her sweet scent.

"Hello, _mio amore_." She giggled as I playfully tugged her ear.

"Hmm, I missed you so much, my dear," I whispered as she turned around in my arms to face me.

She was gorgeous, nothing, no matter how often or how long I will see, her will change that. She will always be the most gorgeous and beautiful woman in the world.

"How was work?" she asked, before taking my lips as hers and making it impossible for me to answer until we separated.

"Good, long, but good."

"Cole called you."

"Yes, did you hear her?"

"I heard both of you. I think she's extremely scared to go to Duluth," she said — becoming serious.

"I agree, but maybe this is what she needs. If she faces this one fear, maybe her nightmares will start to resolve. I'll be there, nothing will happen to her, and if I feel she can't handle it, we'll leave right away."

"Just take care of her, though, I know you will. Call me if you need me. Promise you'll call?"

"I will call, and Cole will call you before she goes to bed every night — and I'm sure a few times during the day. You'll be home Sunday evening, and then you don't have to leave her again for at least a week. You need this hunting trip. Deer may satisfy your thirst, but we both know if you have something a little… larger, you'll be much happier." I smirked.

She smiled rubbing her nose against mine. "Bears do make me much happier."

"And Sunday night, you and I will make great use of that happiness," I teased.

"Hmm," she sighed, before taking my lips once more. "Cole will be in the shower for at least another ten minutes. Why wait until Sunday?" she purred, pushing me up the stairs while undoing my shirt buttons. My tie was gone before we hit the landing.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	14. Chapter 14

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

After I got out of the shower and put on a pair of light wash jeans with a dark green tank top, I brushed through my hair and teased the ends, so instead of it being wavy, it was more curly. I pulled my bangs back into a clip — pushing it up so I had a little bump.

I was really nervous for tonight. I knew in my heart Carlisle wouldn't let anything happen to me, but that didn't change the fact that I was literally scared to death. What if I saw Mark? What if I didn't, but he saw me? What if he followed us home? All these questions and more kept running through my mind. My only resolve was that Carlisle would be there. He was strong, much stronger than Mark, and Carlisle would protect me. That was something I couldn't doubt — not even a little.

I put a little bit of mascara on, and then clasped my necklace from Carlisle around my neck. I found Carlisle's scarf and wrapped it securely around my neck to hide my scar from the central line. Carlisle finally took it out a week ago and it just left a small line. He said it would eventually heal enough that no one would notice, but right now, it was still raised, so I wanted to cover it.

I put on a thin, white t-shirt, and then a gray knit sweater and boots. I made sure I looked okay before tucking my phone in my back pocket and heading out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I wasn't paying attention, but luckily Carlisle was as I missed a step and started to fall. He caught me and gently placed me back on solid ground.

"Sorry," I said, before biting my lip and trying not to blush. He chuckled and rubbed my back.

He smiled warmly. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, though, my balance never will be."

"Probably not, but at least I'll be there to catch you."

He smirked kissing the top of my head before Esme pulled me into a hug.

"I'll miss you, honey. If you ever want to talk, just call me. I'll always answer. And please, call me before you go to bed," she said, kissing both of my cheeks.

"I will and I'll miss you, too."

She hugged me a little tighter before letting me go. "I love you, honey."

"I love you too, mom."

She once again kissed my cheeks. I could hear Carlisle chuckling from beside me. He whispered something about my cheeks being bruised and Esme shushed him.

"I'll be home Sunday night. Have fun with your father and call me," she said, pointing her finger.

"I will," I promised ,before she said her goodbyes to Carlisle.

I looked away to give them some privacy. Esme left, running, after she exited the house, which left me and Carlisle alone. I noticed he must have changed, since he was wearing dark jeans and a white button up shirt with a coat. For once, he actually looked like someone in their late twenties, which made me giggle lightly.

"What?" he asked with a smirk.

"You look really weird," I said, not really using the right words as he raised his eyebrows at me. "Not bad weird, just young weird," I corrected as he started to chuckle under his breath.

"I'll take that as a compliment. And you, my daughter, look adorable. Are you ready to go?"

I nodded swiftly before I could change my mind.

"If you really don't want to go to Duluth, we don't have to. I can get us to Minneapolis in a little over two hours."

"No, I'm okay."

He guided me out the door to the large garage. It was heated, so I didn't feel the cold outside. He opened my door for me and I slid in and buckled up as he got in and started the car. He turned my seat heater on, which I turned back off. The car was already warm, so I didn't need it

I little over halfway, my legs started twitching and bouncing. I was in a fit of nerves, but I tried to contain it. I knew Carlisle would easily turn the car around if I asked, and trust me, I about did a few times. The words we right on the tip of my tongue every time I'd see a sign for Duluth counting down the miles. I tried taking my mind off of it by asking Carlisle how his day was, how Josh was, if anything exciting happened – of course nothing had – but when the sign said now entering Duluth city limits, my breathing picked up and my hand turned white from clutching the handle on the door.

"You are safe. Nothing is going to happen to you," Carlisle said — not taking his eyes from the road.

"No… I can't. Turn around, please. Turn around now!" I yelled between ragged gasps for air.

My fingers started to tingle and my lips twitched involuntarily as Carlisle pulled into a gas station. Before the cold gush of air entering the car alerted me to the fact Carlisle had opened his door, mine opened and he took my hands in his. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping when I opened them we'd be back home — safe and sound.

He squeezed my hand a little. "Cole, look at me."

"Home… I wanna go home," I whispered as tears passed my shut lids.

"We will go home, but first you have to look at me and calm down." I shook my head no. I wanted to go home right now. "Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth slowly."

"I can't breathe!" I cried as my chest tightened.

"Yes, you can. Slow deep breathes."

One of his hands left mine and he touched my face — making my eyes shoot open. I was met by his calm, golden eyes — his loving eyes that told me everything was okay. I jumped from seat and hit his chest hard as I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled my face into his neck.

"He's here," I whispered.

"He can't hurt you."

"But he's here — in this city."

"Most likely, yes."

"Can't you lie?" I huffed as my breathing slowed down and I did as he said, taking a deep breath through my nose and out through my mouth.

"I can. I can say he's not here. I can say a lot of things that may not be true, but would that honestly help?"

I shook my head in his neck as he gently rubbed my back — calming me down faster. "No."

"How about we leave the movies to another night, hmm? We can go back home, find a movie on the TV, and I'll even make you some popcorn," he said before I felt his lips on my head.

"Please," I whispered.

After a few more minutes of Carlisle holding me, he made me let go. It was twenty something degrees outside and since he was so cold, I was starting to shiver. He put me back in the car and shut my door before getting in his side. This time, when he turned the seat heater on, I welcomed it. I actually turned it up all the way —along with the heat.

"Your mittens are in my glove compartment," Carlisle said as he put the car in first gear.

I quickly opened the compartment and found the pink polka dotted mittens — sliding them on both of my hands. Once we were back on the highway and he was in the highest gear, he held his hand out for me, which I gladly took — the mittens kept me from feeling his cold skin. As soon as my hand met his, I felt better.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying not to bite my lip. It was bad habit, but one I really couldn't break. My teeth bit down even with my trying not to.

"It's all right, _tesoro_. We tried, you tried, and that's all I ask for."

**Carlisle's POV**

She tried, that was all I could ask for. She made an effort where some people wouldn't. Though I had hoped for better results, I wasn't disappointed. How could I be? As long as Cole tried, I'd never be disappointed. And I'd certainly never be disappointed in her.

I drove most of the way home with her hand clutched in mine. The mitten kept our skin separated, so she was warm. She didn't speak — just looked out the window as the trees passed by. I'd be lying if I said her silence didn't hurt. I wanted her to talk to me, so I could help her through this, but when I started a conversation, she responded by looking at me. That was all I needed to know talking wasn't in the cards for her.

I turned down our driveway and sighed, trying to figure out how to help her. Maybe a funny movie and some homemade popcorn would help. Hell, she could eat all the junk food she wanted tonight — she deserved it for the effort she gave. I maneuvered the Mercedes into the garage, had it off, and was out of the car opening Cole's door before she even had her seatbelt off.

Cole went into her room to change into some more comfortable clothes while I started the popcorn and poured her a large glass of Cherry Pepsi. She really did love it, so I decided to give her more than I normally would. When she came down, now in pink flannel pajama bottoms, we met in the kitchen.

"Do you mind if I don't have popcorn?" she asked.

"No popcorn?"

"I'm not in the mood. I kinda want some of those carrots and ranch dressing dip Esme made." I moved to the fridge to retrieve them. "I can do it. You can go find a movie."

"Are you sure?" She nodded taking the carrots from me. "All right. Did you want me to go get some of your pillows and a few blankets?"

"Okay just my large pink body pillow and my blanket is fine," she said, moving to the cutting board after washing off the carrots.

"Okay, I'll be right back." I smiled kissing her head before going upstairs.

I grabbed the large body pillow, a few small ones, her blanket, and even a comforter. Knowing her, she'd fall asleep against me, so I didn't want her to be cold. As I started back down the stairs, I heard Cole cry out and the sound of a knife dropping to the floor — then I caught the scent of her blood. I dropped the pillows and blankets, and then ran into the kitchen as she held a dish towel, tightly wrapped around her right index finger. The blood was already starting to soak through.

"Let me see," I said, taking her hand from her.

"I'm sorry; it slipped. God, I'm such a klutz!" she groaned as I gently unwrapped the blood soaked towel.

She cut herself pretty well — almost taking off the tip of her finger right above her nail to the first joint. I rewrapped it tightly — raising it above her heart — before leading her to the bar stool so she could sit.

"It was an accident. Keep pressure on it for me while I grab some supplies to clean and suture it up," I said as her left hand wrapped around the towel. She started to lower her hand and I raised it back up. "Keep it above your heart. It will slow the blood flow."

I ran upstairs to my study and retrieved the supplies I'd need. When I got back to the kitchen, I spread the instruments out on the bar beside Cole.

"Once I give you a shot of lidocaine, the pain will resolve. Are you doing all right?"

"It's not that bad." She sniffled as I pulled on a pair of gloves and spread out a sterile cloth over the counter. "I ruin everything!" she huffed, wiping her eyes with her arm since both hands were occupied.

I chuckled softly as I took her hand from her. "You don't ruin anything."

"Tonight was supposed to be fun. First I ruin it by not being able to go to the theater, and now I about cut my finger off trying to cut carrots!" she said as her voice went higher.

"Accidents happen. And as for not going to the theater, we can try again when you're ready. We'll still have fun tonight. I promise." I smiled as I started cleaning out the deep laceration, and then dabbed it with gauze to soak up the blood.

"Esme won't come home will she?" she asked as I checked my instruments — making sure the suture kit included what it was supposed to.

"I think I can convince Esme not to come home, unless you want her to," I said as I prepared a syringe with lidocaine. I didn't miss her flinch at the sight of the needle. "Look away," I suggested. She followed my suggested without any hesitation.

"Can we not tell her?"

"And have her tear my arms from my body?" I laughed. "I'm rather fond of my arms, and it is very difficult to reattach both arms on my own." I smirked as I, gently as possible, slid the needle into her finger and pressed down on the plunger.

She smiled slightly not even feeling the poke. "I'd help."

"Well in that case… no, but I promise Esme will do as you ask. If you don't want her to come home, she won't."

"I don't want her weekend ruined," she told me as I once again held pressure to the cut. The anesthetic would take a few minute to work, so I couldn't start to suture the laceration yet.

"Her weekend wouldn't be ruined, _tesoro_," I assured her.

"How many stitches will I need?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I'd say about six or seven. It's a decent cut, but truthfully, it's in the perfect location — no major nerve endings or blood vessels. I doubt it will leave any permanent damage, expect for the scar tissue causing the joint to stiffen. It won't be noticeable, though, considering humans rarely bend that joint consciously."

She rolled her eyes. "Lucky me."

"Well, for now on I think we should buy pre-cut carrots," I teased.

"But I like cutting whole carrots into little circles. It's like eating a chip with dip," she said with a low, short chuckle as I picked up a small pair of tweezers and lightly touched around her cut with them.

"Can you feel that?" I asked, looking up to watch her face for any sign of pain, but there wasn't any as she shook her head no.

I picked up the needle and pierced her skin — watching her face to be sure. She didn't even flinch, so it was safe to say she was completely numb.

"You do this all day?" she asked as I tied the first stitch.

"Not all day. I do other things."

"Is it hard?"

"Is what hard? Suturing? Not really, at least not to me."

"No, not that — being around blood all day, every day."

"I've had centuries to practice. I barely notice the scent anymore if I'm not looking for it."

"How though? I mean, if I smell cookies I want them. You drink blood. I'd think if you smell it you'd want it like I do certain foods."

"I don't want human blood. What is a food item you can smell, but you don't want?"

Her little nose scrunched up. "Cheese."

"Then compare it to that. I can smell human blood, but I don't want it. I never have. I relate the smell to the fact that it comes from something I'd need to kill to have. If I don't want to kill it, then I don't want it."

"But animals you do want to kill?"

"You eat meat," I reminded her.

"Yeah, but I don't want to be the one to kill it."

"No, but its survival. I have to kill to eat. Instinct if you will," I said as I turned her hand so it rested on her palm.

"I get it. Before supermarkets, humans had to kill their own food. I guess we're just spoiled now." She laughed.

I smirked. "Very."

"So, you've seen almost four centuries pass. I can't imagine everything you've seen. It must have incredible," she murmured.

"It still is," I said, tying off the last stitch in her finger. "All done. I'm just going to wrap your finger after cleaning the cut and we'll be good to start movie night. Do you have any idea of what movie you wanted to watch?" I asked as I spread antibiotic ointment over her finger.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	15. Chapter 15

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Once the kitchen was clean and we had both spoken to Esme, Cole changed out of her bloody clothing and into a new set of pajamas. Afterwards, she and I finally settled into the living room where, as I searched for a movie, she munched on the fresh carrots I had cut. She was cuddled into the middle of the couch — lying on a pillow that rested against my side with her feet extended and blankets wrapped around her. After watching a few trailers, Cole picked a movie — nothing serious just an animated film that of course made her giggle. I loved watching her laugh — her covering her mouth when she giggled loudly. It was adorable, and truthfully, I couldn't keep my eyes on the screen since they were glued to her. About halfway through the movie, I noticed her little yawns and soon after she was out — snuggled close against me with a pillow between her arms.

I couldn't help but speak out loud to my sleeping daughter. "I love you so much," I told her, bending down to kiss her forehead.

I didn't turn off the movie or take her upstairs yet. I just relished in the moment. After the movie ended and I turned off the TV, we sat on the couch for a good two hours. She slept and I watched. Before long, though, her breathing picked up and she winced as if in pain. When I heard her speak, if I could, I would have cried.

"Help me, daddy," she said — ever so softly. I moved her from lying against me to my lap — cradling her as if she were a baby and drawing my lips to her forehead.

"Please, daddy, please!" she cried "Make him stop!"

I wished so badly I could enter her dreams and rid her of all the pain she kept reliving.

"It's all right, baby. I'm here," I told her, holding her close to my chest as I drew the blanket tighter and rested my chin against her head.

I carried her upstairs and placed her between the blankets before lying next to her. She turned in her sleep, so she was on her stomach and rested her head against my chest — her little hand clutched my shirt for dear life. She didn't speak again and her face returned to a serene expression — no more wincing or painful expressions the rest of the night. I kept talking softly every once in a while, telling her it was all right, and that I was there. It seemed to keep the nightmares away — the monsters at bay.

I watched through the large plate glass window as the sun came up — illuminating the room through the clouds. It was a new day. Another day I could spend with my little girl. Another night had passed and soon she would wake. I didn't know what she would want to do today, and truthfully it didn't matter. We could do anything her heart desired.

A few more hours passed before she showed any signs of waking up. She dug her face deeper into my chest before letting out a muffled yawn.

"Good morning, _tesoro_. How did you sleep, darling?" I asked, running my fingers through her hair as she turned her face and brought both arms up to fold on top of my chest. She lifted her head to rest on her hands as she stretched.

"Thank you," she said as she opened her eyes and looked into mine.

"Whatever for?"

"You saved me… in my dreams. I heard you," she said with a small smile as she inspected the bandaged finger.

"Are you in pain?"

"It's throbbing is all."

"I have something for that. Why don't you take your "human" moments and meet me downstairs for breakfast? What would you like?" I asked as we both sat up.

She turned her neck to both sides, cracking it with her hand. I couldn't help but wince at the sound, even if it were a natural sound. I didn't like hearing something in her crack.

"Just some cereal and apple juice."

I rose from the bed and kissed her forehead. "All right, come down when you're ready."

I left to give her some privacy. I made a stop in my study to grab some pain medication, ointment, and a change of dressing for her finger, and then went downstairs to the kitchen. I quickly made her a bowl of cereal with a glass of apple juice. She came down after a few minutes — still in her pajamas, but her hair up in a messy bun as she took a seat on the bar stool.

"Take these." I handed her the tablets. "They'll help with the pain. It's just some Ibuprofen. I also want to take a look at your finger and change the dressing."

She swallowed the tablets with a sip of juice before holding out her right hand, while eating with the left.

I undressed her finger — careful not to pull the sutures. After being sure there was no sign of infection, I spread a small amount of antibiotic ointment over the cut and redressed it. She flinched when I ran the Q-Tip of ointment over the cut, but I was sure it was just tender, so I wasn't concerned. But I did apologize, to which she just shrugged and with a mouthful of food and said "it's fine". I discarded the used materials and came back to sit next to her as she finished.

"What would you like to do today?" I asked.

"I don't really care. It's up to you."

I had expected an answer like that. One thing I had noticed about Cole, was how easy going she was. She doesn't care what we did, and if it was up to her, she'd never pick. She'd be happy to go along with whatever Esme or I suggested, which was what we normally did.

"Would you rather stay home or go out?"

"Do you have anything you need to do?"

"Not really. A few dictations on some charts for the hospital, but that doesn't need to be done until Monday."

"Why don't we just stay here, so you can get your work done? I'm kinda tired still, so maybe we can have just a lazy day?"

"That sounds fine to me. We could play some board games, if you'd like," I suggested.

"Okay," she said as she lifted the bowl to drink the milk before placing it in the sink and rinsing it out.

The day passed slowly for me. Cole and I sat in my study. She read silently as I dictated my notes into a recorder on my laptop. That was one of the only things I couldn't do faster than humans, though, I could put it off longer since I remembered everything clearly. I finally finished a little after noon, and Cole was still nose deep in the book she had picked out. She had become quite the literature enthusiast — always bringing one book back to grab another. I had noticed she prefers fantasies to romance. The first book she picked — Romeo and Juliette — wasn't a favorite, so she had steered clear of the romance novels in favor of adventure and fantasy. I couldn't say I wasn't thrilled she stayed away from romance. She was fourteen, much to young, if you asked me.

"I change my mind," Cole said, snapping my attention back to the present. She had the book in her lap and was looking to me.

"About what, _tesoro_?"

"Going outside. Can we go outside?"

"Of course. Did you have an activity in mind?"

She grinned mischievously. "Yep."

"Would you like to share it with me?"

"Snowball fight."

"You want to have a snowball fight? With me?" I asked and she nodded. "You want to take on the great and powerful Carlisle Cullen?" I teased.

"Pssh, please." She giggled. "Great and powerful my behind."

"Well, then, I guess this is war. Outside — ten minutes. Prepare to be covered in snow," I said with a nod as I ran from the room before she could blink.

I, of course wouldn't win. After a good while, I had already planned on admitting defeat, but this would be good for her. She rarely acted like a child, and the fact that she had come up with this thrilled me. I could hear her little feet scurrying from my study to her bedroom, followed by the sound of clothing being layered on. Her little giggles made me smile as I pulled on a coat, gloves, and boots before waiting in the kitchen. I'd let her go out first and put together a few snowballs, before I went out and made a few to throw at her Just for fun, of course. I couldn't make it obvious I was letting her win, so once I heard the door open and her little boots crunching the snow, I went out the backdoor. As I stepped out and bent down to grab some snow, I was surprised by the feeling of a ball of snow hitting the back of my head. Her laughs followed as I turned around.

"Oh, well, I see someone…" I was cut off by another ball hitting my face.

I cleared my face and starred her down with a grin as she turned to run. I caught her easily and threw her over my shoulders — all the while her laughing increased as I could just imagine the smile on her face. I decided to have some fun by laying her down in a snow bank and shoveling snow on her as she tried to squirm away. I ran away quickly and hid behind a tree as I watched her struggle to get up, but once she did, she grabbed a ball in each hand and ducked behind the bank.

"That wasn't nice, _dad_!" she yelled from her spot.

"War isn't nice," I yelled back as her head came up and I softly threw a ball — hitting her right between the eyes. Her expression was one of shock, and then she started to cry. I rushed over to her — afraid I had hit her to hard.

"Are you all right? I'm so sorry," I said, trying to get a look at her. She lowered her hands and slowly looked up to me with a smirk… She played me! "You little…" I said as she stuffed a handful of snow down the back of my jacket and laughed.

"I win!"

"That was cheating."

I swiftly grabbed both of her ankles and she fell to the ground. I took the opportunity to tickle her and she giggled and squirmed.

"No fair!" she yelled between gasps — trying to hit my hands away.

"What you did was unfair. I'm just having fun," I told her as the wind changed and another scent filled my nose.

It was a vampire — one I didn't know. Quickly, I had Cole back on her feet pressed against my back as a figure emerged through the tree line. It was female. She had platinum blonde hair with bright red lips.

"Wanna share?" she asked as she stood just feet in front of me.

"I suggest you leave now and there will be no problems."

"I'm Kara, and you have made my feeding much more fun."

She smirked as she lunged for my throat. I had no choice but to push Cole back. She hit the ground with a thud as I blocked the female — throwing her back into a tree. She, of course, just stood back up, licking her lips as if this were a game. To her it was. I didn't give her the chance to come after me again. I went straight for her throat, but she was obviously an experienced fighter where I was not, and she just moved out of the way as I rammed a tree to the ground.

"Just give her to me and I won't kill you."

She laughed as I ran for her again. This time I got her and our arms entwined. We both fought for the upper hand until I was able to throw her, and then quickly ran and grabbed her throat to smash her into the ground with a thud that echoed through the forest. She flipped me off of her before I could remove her head — throwing me a good hundred feet away from her and Cole.

"No!" I yelled as I ran back.

She had Cole against a tree, her mouth mere centimeters from my daughters jugular vein.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	16. Chapter 16

**Edited 8/12/11**

**Translations: **Since you should know what they're saying, I'm doing the translations in the beginning for this chapter.

Lo, per favore fretta. Ti amo, mia cara: I will, please hurry. I love you, my dear.

Ti amo troppo, Carlisle: I love you too, Carlisle.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

I tackled her. She took Cole with us before throwing her against a tree. Hearing my daughter's bones break, enraged me. I removed the females head, and then tore her torso apart. Once she was destroyed, I ran back to Cole who was struggling to keep her eyes open and take a good breath. Her moans and cries of pain were so soft, so weak. She had no breath sounds on the left, from what I guessed was a broken rib that perforated her plural cavity. I had to get her to the hospital, so I quickly picked her up and ran back to the garage where my Mercedes was. I laid her in the back seat and kissed her forehead.

"Just stay awake, _tesoro_. You're going to be fine," I told her as I shut the door and got in the driver's seat.

I drove faster than ever before, pushing the car to its limit, until I pulled up to the emergency room entrance — skidding to a stop and alerting everyone just past the doors that someone was here. I carefully pulled Cole from the backseat, leaving the doors open as I ran inside at an agonizing human pace. I was met at the doors by another doctor and a few nurses.

"She has a pneumothorax and probable internal bleeding. Set me up for a chest tube now," I ordered as I laid Cole down on the gurney. I needed to put a chest tube in so she could breath.

"Cole! Dr. Cullen, what happened?" Josh asked as we ran the gurney back to the trauma room.

"She slipped, fell, and rolled down a hill. She hit a tree," I said, trying to come up with a story that might be believable. It probably wasn't the best story, but it would work. It was partly true, she did hit a tree, just much harder than would have been possible if she was rolling. As we got to the trauma room, Josh pressed his hand to my shoulder — trying to stop me.

"You can't treat her," he said.

"Like hell. Josh, let me go," I warned.

"Dr. Cullen — Carlisle, she's in good hands. You know you can't treat her."

"She's in good hands with me!" I yelled, causing everyone in the ER to stop and watch us.

"Arguing won't help her. Let us help her please. You can't be in there. She's your daughter and you know you cannot treat her. You could lose your license."

"You think I care! Let me in there. She needs me."

"I'll get security, Carlisle. I don't want to, but I will. You have to let us do our job and we can't do it with you there."

"She's my life — _my life_. She needs me in there. Just let me go," I said, trying to calm down, trying to convince him to let me go, but he wouldn't. He just shook his head no as two men in uniform wrapped their hands around my arms. How easily I could tear them apart.

"Take a seat and I will keep you updated. I promise," he said as I gave up and let the security guards pull me away from the trauma room doors.

I watched the door open as Josh went in. Through the door, I could see Cole on a gurney. Her clothes were being removed and monitors attached to her frail body. I could only think how terrified she must be, how terrifying it would be to any patient in that position. I could only think of the times I've had to assure patients that they would be all right while I worked to save their lives as family members stood where I was now. I finally realized how they must have felt like — the pure fear that ran through them as they were left not knowing what was going on. Not knowing if their child or parent would live. If they'd ever see their eyes open again, see their smile, hear their laughs. All I wanted was to see Cole, to hold her hand. How many times had I denied someone that wish? How many times did I lie and tell a family I would take care of that child or parent, and in the end, they didn't make it? They just wanted one more squeeze of the hand, one more kiss, one more "I love you", but I didn't let them. I made them stand where I was and worry.

"Dr. Cullen, we need some information about your daughter," a female voice asked as I realized I was now sitting down in a plastic chair in the waiting room.

I looked up to the woman as she held a chart in her hands. Her face was full of pity and sorrow.

"Wha… what do you need to know?" I asked.

It was the first time I had stuttered. I didn't stutter. Vampires didn't stutter, but apparently fathers did.

"She needs a blood transfusion. Do you know her type?"

"Yes, she's AB negative. All of her vaccinations are up to date and she has no allergies that I know of. She weighs 76 pounds and is 4'9," I said, answering what would be her next questions.

"All right, thank you. I know that right now the on-call surgeon is on his way down and the doctor plans on inserting a chest tube before taking her to CT. He thinks she has internal bleeding since her blood pressure is so unstable."

"I know, just please, make sure I can see her before she goes to CT. I have to tell her I love her."

"I'll tell her nurse. I'm sure Josh won't have a problem with that."

"Is she still awake?"

"They've given her a sedative, but right now she's still in and out. She's fighting to stay awake."

"Someone needs to hold her hand. Please, she's scared."

"I will. We'll take care of her, Dr. Cullen," she said before leaving me alone.

I sat back — my head against the wall — as I reached into my pocket for my phone only to discover, that during the fight with the female vampire, it had been destroyed. I needed to call Esme. She needed to be here, so I left my seat for the admin desk and asked to use the phone — which they let me. I dialed Esme's number and she answered on the first ring. I could hear the wind behind her as she ran.

"Alice called. Carlisle, is she alive?" Esme begged.

"We're at the hospital. She's being taken care of now."

"Is she going to be okay? I'm coming home now. I'm not far from the house."

"The house… Esme you have to…"

She cut me off. "Alice told me the remains still need to be burned. I'm doing that first, but is she going to be all right? Is she hurt badly? Alice couldn't see how badly she was injured."

"I don't know, Esme. They won't let me treat her. I'm going to see her shortly, but she probably needs surgery. I know she has a few broken ribs and internal injuries, but I don't know the extent or what else could be wrong."

"Tell her I love her and I will be there soon."

"_Lo, per favore fretta. Ti amo, mia cara_," I murmured.

"_Ti amo troppo, _Carlisle," she said as I hung up the phone.

The clock ticked on so slowly. Each second felt like a minute and each minute, an hour. I couldn't stand waiting around hoping for Cole to be all right. I should have been the one making her all right.

I listened closely as the doctor and surgeon talk about Cole in the trauma room. They spoke in front of her, talking about her as if she weren't even there. I could only imagine the fear she had if she could hear them. They didn't explain anything in terms she would understand, so I could only pray she couldn't hear them. For how terrifying it would be to hear people talk about you as if you were just a body on a gurney. I heard the surgeon — John Wayson — say the chest tube was in correct position, which meant they got a chest x-ray. He was utterly in shock with the extent of injuries from a fall, but he didn't doubt my story. Cole had three broken ribs on the left side and another on the right. He was certain she was bleeding internally, so they were about to prepare her for transport to the CT scanner.

I heard Josh talking to Cole — he was telling her I was just outside and she would see me in a minute. He told her that everything would be all right and to continue being so brave.

I was so close to just running back to her. I went so far as standing up and pacing the room. When I finally heard Josh say he would be back with me, I sighed in relief. I knew I'd be seeing Cole shortly. I would be able to tell her I loved her and hold her hand. I just wanted to hold my daughters hand. A few more minutes passed before Josh came out. He looked concerned, which in all honesty he should, from what I heard, Cole wasn't stable — she was critical and her living wasn't guaranteed. I had to remind myself not to think like that. Cole would live. She had to.

"What's going on?" I asked, pretending I hadn't heard a thing. No human would have been able to hear what was going on, so I asked the question most families asked me.

"The chest tube is in and she's breathing much easier. We're taking her to CT and you can come with, but she probably needs surgery. We just need to see the extent of damage, so Dr. Wayson doesn't go in blind. Dr. Cullen, I am truly sorry I had to keep you out. But it's hospital policy. Only the trauma team working on the patient can be in there, you know that."

"Not now, Josh. Please, just take me to my daughter," I said as he nodded and motioned for me to follow.

Walking at a human pace was literally driving me insane. The short walk felt like miles, not feet. Josh opened the door and let me go in. Cole was flat on the gurney with tubes and wires protruding from her tiny body. A thin sheet covered her and an oxygen mask was over her face. Her left hand was out from under the sheet. Clearly, someone had been holding it like I asked. My hand latched onto it and her eyes flickered open.

"_Tesoro_, baby, can you hear me?" I asked, running my free hand through her hair.

"Daddy," she said.

Though the oxygen mask muffled it, that was what she said. I could hear that word perfectly.

"I'm here, darling. It's all right; daddy's here."

"Are… you okay?"

I had to sigh a laugh. "I'm fine, baby. How are you? Are you in any pain?"

"Nuh-huh. Not anymore," she said as her eyes dropped. She was tired — fighting a sedative would do that to anyone.

"Dr. Cullen," John Wayson said as I looked up to him.

"Yes?"

"The CT scanner is ready. I know I'm going to have to open her up, but I need to see what I'm in for, so we need to get going. I'm sorry, Carlisle."

"Let me assist."

"I can't."

"Just let me be there, so I can hold her hand?" I begged.

"I…" he said as Cole mumbled something. He bent down to hear her as she pulled the mask down.

"Please, I want my daddy," she told him before he fixed the mask and looked to me.

"You'll be asleep. You won't know he isn't there," John told her. "Carlisle, I can't allow you to. I'm sorry," he said as we started to walk out.

I kept my hand tightly around Cole's. I wasn't going to let her go until I had to, and even then it wouldn't be easy.

A part of me truly wished it would take longer to walk to radiology, because the second we arrived, Cole was taken from me. Surprisingly, I was allowed in the monitor room. For everything they wouldn't let me do, they would let me see exactly how injured my little girl was. But I was reminded I wouldn't be the one to fix her. I studied the CT pictures with everyone else. It was clear her spleen had ruptured and that scared the hell out of me. A human could live without their spleen, but they truly needed it. Cole was already a very sickly child and without the protection of her spleen, it would just get worse.

"You say she recently recovered from pneumonia?" John asked me.

"Yes, right after Christmas."

"She's been vaccinated, yes?"

"Yes. You don't think you can repair her spleen, do you?"

"Doubtful. I'll try, but most likely she's going to lose her spleen. The laceration on her liver needs to be repaired as well. If I try to save her spleen, she'll just continue to bleed from her liver. It may not be wise to even try. We've already given her one unit of blood and she's working on the second. She'll need a lot more if I try to repair her spleen — she's lost too much already. I don't want to risk killing her by trying to save something she can live without."

"She needs her spleen. Yes, people can live without it, but she's already very sickly. A simple cold turned into pneumonia. You say she can live without it, but what if she can't? You need another surgeon with you, so that while you repair her spleen, they can repair her liver."

"It's not your call; it's mine. And if I decide saving her spleen would be detrimental to her health, than that's my decision."

"She's my daughter."

"Carlisle, you are a great surgeon, but she is my patient. If this wasn't your daughter, would you really be pushing this?"

Would I be? I couldn't say for sure. I did always try to save a patient's spleen, but there are times when it just wasn't possible. I did know I wouldn't make this decision over a CT scan. Things could change once a patient was opened up. Damage could look much better or much worse.

"Just try please?" I asked as the heart monitor alarm went off.

Cole was fading. She was losing blood faster than it was being replaced. I ran into the CT room with John and the trauma team as Josh and an orderly pulled Cole from the scanner and laid her back on the gurney. Josh's hand rested on her artery trying to find her weak pulse.

"It's too weak. Starting compressions," he yelled as he hoped on the gurney and started pushing in Cole's chest as the team started rolling her out. I went directly to her head as another nurse started bagging her.

"Hang in there, _tesoro_. Please, baby, don't leave me. Don't leave Esme. Stay, baby. Fight, you can do that sweetheart. You need to fight just a little longer," I whispered into her ear as we came to the operating room doors.

I kissed her forehead before I let her go and they ran off with my heart. I felt something wet on my cheek and looked up, expecting a leak in the ceiling. I wiped my cheek and found a tear, a venom tear, but still a tear — I was crying. It was impossible for vampires to cry actual tears, but that was what I was doing. I was crying for my daughter. I ran my hands through my hair before dropping to my knees in the middle of the hallway. The emotions over powered me. I was devastated and angry — not just at the female who did this, but at myself for letting it happen. I promised Cole I'd protect her and I had failed.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	17. Chapter 17

**Edited 8/12/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Esme's POV**

I ran faster than ever before trying to get to the house, so I could then get to Cole and Carlisle. Alice called and her voice was so devastated. When she told me a vampire had attacked Carlisle trying to get to Cole, I just took off running trying to get to my daughter and husband. Then she reminded me that Carlisle didn't have time to burn the females remain and I needed to do that or else the woman would just put herself back together.

The sound of Carlisle's voicemail enraged me. He didn't answer and I could only reason that his phone had been destroyed, so when he called me from the hospital, I was relieved. Cole was obviously in bad shape. Just from the sound of his voice. I could feel his pain. The fact that he wasn't taking care of her only worried me more. Of course. I could understand the hospitals reasoning — a human probably wouldn't have been able to keep their emotions balanced, but Carlisle could.

I could smell the females scent when I was about a mile from the house, but when I got to the house, I didn't find any pieces — nothing.

"No," I whispered, running around the house — going further out each time to find something, anything, but there wasn't anything there except Cole's blood on a tree and in the snow.

It had been a good hour since Carlisle tore her apart. She would have had enough time to reattach some limbs, but getting away wouldn't have been easy. I ran further out — west this time — and caught another scent. Someone was with this woman and they helped her get away. I quickly ran back to the house for my car. I needed to get to the hospital.

My phone started ringing and since it was Alice, I answered right away. "She's gone!"

"She's not alone. Her mate is with her. Esme, she's planning something. She's planning on killing Carlisle after she forces him to watch Cole being drained. Jasper and I are coming ,and I just called Rose. She and Emmett are on their way as well. They will be there by tonight and our flight will land in New York tomorrow night. We'll run from there and hopefully be at the house before midnight."

"What about Cole? Is she going to be okay, Alice?"

"I don't know. I can't see her clearly. There are two outcomes right now. I think you know what they are, but Esme, you need to get to the hospital. Carlisle is… I've never seen him so _broken_."

"He's blaming himself, isn't he?"

I knew full well how Carlisle was. He would blame himself. He'd think he failed as a father by not protecting Cole, but he did. The female didn't kill her, so she still has a chance. What happened wasn't his fault, but I know he won't see it that way.

"Yeah, Esme, he's crying."

"Vampires can't cry."

"It's venom, but still he's crying. He needs you."

"Okay, call me if you see anything. Do you know when this female plans to attack?"

"It's going to take her a while to heal completely, so I imagine it won't be any time soon, but just in case, we're all coming. We'll fight to keep Cole safe."

"Okay, thank you Alice. I love you."

"Love you too," she said as I hung up and sped down the road.

When I got to the hospital, I followed Carlisle's scent to a waiting room. He was sitting with his hands in his hair –—visibly distraught. He had never looked so _human_. He looked like a father grieving, which sent shivers through my body. He was grieving.

"No, Carlisle," I whispered as his head shot up. He ran to me and wrapped his arms around me. "She died?" I asked, gasping for unneeded air.

"What? No. Esme, no, she isn't dead. I just don't know what will happen. Right now, she's alive and in surgery."

"She's alive!" I gasped, clutching him tighter.

"God, I'm so sorry."

"Carlisle, there's something you need to know."

He pulled back and looked at me. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, the waiting room door opened and his eyes darted to it as I turned my head around to find Josh approaching with his head down.

"Dr. Wayson is going to remove her spleen. We had to give her another full two units of blood before her heart became stronger. Esme, I'm so sorry. How are you?" he asked as we all sat back down. Carlisle held me close to him — giving Josh a cold, hard glare.

"I'm scarred. Cow was she?"

"Before Carlisle came back into the trauma room, she was terrified, but she was very brave while the chest tube was being placed. She's a fighter."

"How long until we know that she'll be okay?" I asked, looking to my husband.

"Truthfully, the longer it takes for Dr. Wayson to come out, the better. We don't want to see him anytime soon," Carlisle said.

"She just has to be okay," I murmured as I buried my face in Carlisle's neck.

He rubbed my back gently. After a good forty-five minutes, Josh left to get coffee for Carlisle and I — it was his idea. Obviously, there was some tension between him and Carlisle and I had yet to find out why. Carlisle wasn't one to be angry, and certainly not one to hold a grudge, which was what he was doing.

"What do I need to know?" Carlisle asked.

"When I returned to the house, there were no remains, but there was another scent. Someone came and helped her reassemble herself."

"She's not dead. Damn it! I should have burned her right away!" he growled.

"There's more. I'm sorry," I said as he gripped my hand.

"What else?"

"Alice has seen her plan. She's going to come back and drain Cole in front of you and then… kill you."

"She's not getting within one-hundred miles of Cole! We're moving the second Cole is ready to be transferred. We'll go far away. I won't fail Cole twice." His body shook with rage.

"Everyone is on their way. Rose and Emmett will be here tonight, and Alice and Jasper hopefully before midnight tomorrow. Carlisle, you didn't fail Cole. You saved her," I told him, gently caressing his face.

"What a great job I did. Cole is in surgery. She could die and if that wasn't bad enough, the threat is still out there waiting to kill her."

"And you," I whispered as my heart ached at the thought. Someone wanted to kill the love of my life and my daughter.

"I'm not concerned for myself, Esme. I just issued a death warrant for my family."

He sighed. I could see his mind working — the wheels turning. He was coming up with a plan.

"I'll order everything I could need and have it shipped to a storage locker outside of Rio. We'll go Isle Esme and the family will follow. If the female follows, we'll kill her and whoever might be with her. With enough money, I can have it done in a few days. I can say I'm transferring Cole and just buy a private jet. Emmett knows how to fly. He'll do that while I tend to Cole."

"Running away? Carlisle, this is our life right now. This is Cole's home."

"It doesn't matter," he said as he held me tighter. "I'll do whatever I have to do to keep everyone safe. Leaving will ensure that."

**Carlisle POV**

I kept a tight hold on Esme while we sat in the waiting room pretending to drink coffee with Josh. He was worried, clearly about Cole, but I could tell by his quick glances at me, he was truly sorry that he had to keep me from treating Cole. He had opened his mouth multiple times to say something, until he looked at me — his mouth quickly locked closed.

"Josh, since I can't, would you please go and check on Cole?" I asked, breaking the hour long silence.

"Of course. I'll be right back," he said, sprinting from the room.

"What happened between you two?" Esme asked.

"Just a disagreement, love. It's fine."

"Carlisle, are you sure leaving is the best idea?"

Truthfully, I didn't know. Just moving Cole before she had recovered would be a bad idea. Was I willing to risk her already fragile health to run away?

"Probably not. We'll talk about it once everyone arrives and Cole is out of the woods."

I didn't mention anything about Cole not possibly making it. In my heart, I could feel that she would — she had too.

"I think that's a good idea. What might happen to Cole? Josh said the doctor was going to remove her spleen. That doesn't sound good."

"It's not the best possible outcome. Despite popular belief, the spleen is useful and needed. It is possible to live a normal life without it, but it's not something that should be removed unless absolutely necessary."

"It was necessary, I take it?"

"It was the fastest and safest way to ensure Cole's survival."

"But you think it could have been avoided."

It wasn't a question, Esme read me like a book.

"Without actually seeing the damage, I can't say. I would have been very apprehensive to remove it considering how easily Cole gets sick and how quickly she gets worse," I told her as the door reopened and Josh appeared.

"She's already been extubated and breathing great on her own. Dr. Wayson is coming out soon. They're getting ready to move her to the ICU," he said as I sighed in relief with Esme.

Cole had made it through surgery and she was breathing on her own — which in itself was amazing. She fought and was obviously still fighting. She wasn't leaving us. Esme pulled me closer and tighter — obviously as thrilled as I was.

"She's going to be okay. She will; I just know it," she whispered.

"She's going to be okay," I repeated, burying my head into her hair.

I felt the foreign venom tears once more on my cheeks. This time they fell in joy, not fear. Our little girl was going to be just fine. She proved herself stronger than I'd ever imagined and now I just couldn't wait to see her — to hold her hand as she opened her eyes.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	18. Chapter 18

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

I would have assumed it had been hours since John spoke to us and said a nurse would be by shortly to take us to Cole. In reality, it had been exactly two minutes and twelve seconds. It felt like hours, though. They were the longest two minutes of my life until an ICU nurse came into the waiting room with a smile and bright pink scrubs. Her words were simple, "you can see your daughter now", but they were the best words I had heard in some time.

I held Esme's hand tight as we walked the familiar hall to the ICU. We rounded a corner and passed through a set of doors before coming to a stop in front of one of the few private rooms. The lights were down low and the only sounds were that of monitors and oxygen blowing through a mask on Cole's face. She was pale — her skin almost translucent from blood loss. The bed was forward just slightly putting her at a slight incline. She wore a light blue gown that seemed a few sizes too large. It only rested on her, not actually secured around her considering the large tube coming from her chest and multiple smaller ones from each arm and out from the blanket near her hip.

Esme and I only stood outside of the door for a few seconds before going in. We both took one of Cole's tiny hands. Esme played with her hair — twirling the ends in a loving fashion — as I caressed her cheek. I couldn't help but miss the blush that normally rose upon those cheeks when someone touched them. I missed it dearly and promised myself I would see it again soon. I listened to Esme murmur sweet words in Cole's ear in between kissing her cheek softly. She told her she loved her, that everything was all right, and that I was there. I should have said something, but I couldn't find my voice, so I just caressed her cheek and ran my thumb over her little hand — afraid if I spoke, I would say the wrong thing.

"When will she wake up?" Esme whispered, twirling then releasing one of Cole's spiral locks before twirling it around her index finger once more.

"It's hard to say," I whispered. "She's on a high dose of morphine for her size, so it could be a while or not until the dose is lowered," I said, taking a quick glance at the morphine drip and the dosage it gave out.

Pain management was important after surgery, after such a serious and traumatic injury. No one wanted to see a child in pain, and as long as she was unconscious, she wasn't suffering or at least not that we could see.

Hours passed before Esme's cell phone vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket and read the text out loud. It was Emmett, and basically said they were at the house. He asked if they should come here, but it was already so late and since visiting hours were over, I just asked them to wait until morning. Right now, just Esme and I being in the ICU after hours with a patient was breaking the rules. The exception was only made because of me, and I wasn't going to push it by adding two more people — not after being forced from my daughter's side once already.

I looked at the clock above Cole's head — it was already midnight. Cole had come out of surgery a little past four, so eight hours had passed, eight hours and she still hadn't woken up. Josh had left a long time ago, promising to check in before his shift in the morning, and I knew John would be in soon — his shift ended at midnight from what I could hear. Right as that thought went through my mind, a light knock came upon the sliding glass door and John entered with Cole's chart in hand. He was dressed and ready to leave.

"New blood work results. I was waiting for them before leaving," he said.

"And?" I asked.

"Good." He smiled. "She's doing great. I don't think she'll need another blood transfusion and there are absolutely no signs of infection so far."

"May I?" I asked, holding my hand out for the chart which he passed to me before starting a quick exam.

Just as he said, her blood work looked great. Nothing indicated post-op complications and on paper you wouldn't have guessed she had just about died not but hours before. She was definitely a fighter — her mind and body.

"When will she wake up?" I heard Esme ask John as he retreated from Cole's side. I placed the chart on the bed past Cole's feet, which he promptly picked up and wrote in.

"By morning. If she doesn't, we probably have to lower the morphine a touch. Basically, she's in a drug induced sleep. Most patients will adjust to the medicine and wake up, but sometimes the dose is just a little too high. She will wake up." He promised.

"But if you lower the dose she might be in pain, right?"

"She'll be in some pain no matter what. It's unavoidable with her injuries. Broken ribs are painful, so is a fractured pelvis, but we'll manage the worst of it."

"Good, thank you, doctor," Esme said, shaking his hand.

"Thank you saving our daughter, John," I said with a nod.

"You're both very welcome. I'll be in around noon tomorrow, if you need anything, just talk to the on-call doctor. Get some rest," he said before slipping out of the room.

Soon after, a nurse came in with pillows, blankets, and a cot. Neither of us wanted to pretend to sleep, since it required us to let go of Cole's hand, but after a few suspicious looks from the nurse that came into change out Cole's fluids, I concluded it was necessary. After letting go of Cole's hand, I tucked a pillow under Esme's head in the recliner and she closed her eyes. She kept Cole's hand firmly in hers. I moved the cot as close as I could before lying down. I had never found pretending to be human so frustrating as I did laying on the cot. Around three, I reached over and took Cole's hand once more. I didn't miss the twitch on Esme's lips as they tried to hide the smile.

"You try letting her go," I whispered.

"Never." She smiled, lifting Cole's hand to lay a small kiss on the back of it.

Suddenly, the hand in mine tightened its grip ever so slightly that I about missed it. Esme must have felt it as well, since we were both sitting up, wide eyed on Cole.

"_Tesoro_? Are you awake?" I asked, receiving the tiniest of moans.

Esme lit up as she watched Cole's face. The small pink lips separated a touch and out came another moan.

"We can hear you," Esme told her, kissing her hand a few more times.

"Are you in pain?" I asked.

She slightly moved her head to the left, and then right. I moved my thumb over her hand and she squeezed lightly.

"Can you open your eyes?" Esme asked, lifting her free hand to caress Cole's cheek. Cole moved her head up and down, but her eyes didn't twitch in the slightest.

"_Tesoro,_ would you please open your eyes for us?" I asked.

Again, she nodded and I noticed the tiny twitches from her eyelids, but she didn't open them. I was positive the morphine was too strong and, though her mind told her she was awake, her body really wasn't.

"It's all right, darling. We know you're awake, but you don't have to open your eyes. I'm sure you're very tired. Maybe you should get some more rest and we can try this again in the morning," I said.

"No," she moaned through the oxygen mask as she pinched her eyes closed for a few seconds, and then they both fluttered open revealing her beautiful olive orbs. Esme and I both grinned she moved her eyes around — never landing on either of us before they filled with tears.

"I can't see" she cried as her breathing picked up. She thought she was blind, but in reality, the room was just too dark.

"The lights are off. That's all. Can I try turning them on?" I asked and she nodded feverishly.

I clicked the light above her bed on and she instantly locked her eyes closed. It was too bright at first, but she eventually tried opening them again — blinking a few times to adjust to the light. Her breathing of course returned to normal as she realized she could in fact see. Her eyes went from Esme's face before locking on me.

"Better?" I asked.

"Daddy," she said before turning back to Esme. "Mommy!" she said quickly as Esme returned to caressing her cheek.

Esme smiled lovingly. "We're here, baby girl."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	19. Chapter 19

**Edited 8/13/11**

**Translations: **

E 'tutto andrà bene adesso, amore. Tutto andrà bene. Vi ringrazio per essere venuti sei la mia roccia: It's all going to be all right now, love. Everything will be fine. Thank you for coming with. You are my rock.

Mi dispiace tanto, Esme. Mi scuso per ringhiare ieri. Ma è stato maleducato e fuori luogo. Potrà mai perdonarmi?: I am so sorry, Esme. I apologize for growling yesterday. It was rude and uncalled for. Can you ever forgive me?

Carlisle, Oh, certo che ti perdono! In realtà, non c'è nulla da perdonare, è stata completamente comprensibile. Ti amo, mia cara: Oh, Carlisle, of course I forgive you! In fact, there is nothing to forgive, it was completely understandable. I love you, my dear.

Amore della mia vita: Love of my life

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Cole was only awake for a few minutes in the middle of the night before her eyelids won the battle and she drifted back into a drug induced sleep. The time may have been short, but dear Lord, it was amazing. She was awake and talking. She could wiggle all of her toes and fingers, she could smile, and she could see. She was alive and well on her way to recovery. Though I knew it would be long and hard, I also knew she could do it. She was the strongest human I had ever met as well as the bravest. She could do this and the entire family would be there to help her.

Rose and Emmett showed up a little past ten in the morning. Cole was still asleep, but the on-call doctor had lowered her morphine some, so I knew she would wake up soon. My main concern was her pain. I knew it was impossible, but I didn't want her to be in any — ever. But she would. Her chest was basically crush in on the left side. Truthfully, her entire left side took most of the damage when the female threw her against the tree. It fractured her pelvis — a small fracture that wouldn't need surgery, but still a fracture. I could easily see the bruises forming up and down her left side. From her shoulder to her thigh, she was engulfed in black and blue with scratches from the tree bark. She had one large laceration near her hairline that extended from the middle of her forehead to just above her ear that required fourteen stitches. I didn't know if she would be bothered by it, but at least the scar would be hidden if she had her bangs down.

I hated knowing that she would forever be scared and reminded of this. Would she blame me? Truthfully, she should. She had every right to blame me and never want to see me again. It was because of what we are that this happened. If she had been adopted by a normal, human family like we could have set up, she would never have to worry about vampires. She would have never been hurt so badly.

Just thinking of that disgusted me and made me feel so selfish. Was it wrong that I wanted her as our daughter? Was it wrong that, even knowing the danger she would face, I still needed her in this family? Yes, it probably was, but was I going to change that decision now? Absolutely not. I could never do that to her for one. Leaving her when she so obviously needed us was not only a ridiculous thought, but also a dangerous one. While she needed us for support and comfort during her recovery, she also needed us for protection. Protection she didn't know she needed. Telling her that would be hard, but I could. I could admit I had failed once more, because she deserved the truth. She deserved to know what was coming.

"Carlisle, shouldn't you take a break? Pretend to be human?" Rose asked from Esme's side.

She held Cole's hand while Esme placed hers on top of both of theirs. Though I knew Rose was correct, I didn't want to leave Cole's side. But, I was sure the nurses were getting suspicious never seeing me leave my chair. Esme had left for ten minutes about an hour before. She pretended to use the restroom, like I knew I had to.

"If she wakes up, call for me. Please?"

"Of course, love," Esme said as I stood up and gave Cole's hand a little squeeze before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"I love you, _tesoro_. I'll be right back," I murmured in her ear — giving her one last kiss before letting her hand go and moving away.

As I walked away, Esme stood up as well. "I'll come with you."

She told Cole we would both be back soon. I led Esme down the hall to an empty supply room. Once the door was closed, I pulled her close, breathing in her calming scent before taking her lips as mine.

"Oh, Carlisle, I love you" Esme whimpered as we parted.

"_E 'tutto andrà bene adesso, amore. Tutto andrà bene. Vi ringrazio per essere venuti sei. __La mia roccia,_" I told her.

We just held each other for a few minutes. The only reason I was even able to be strong was because she was here. Before she arrived in the waiting room, my faith was teetering and I was losing hope. Hope that our daughter would make it. When she told me about the damned female putting herself back together with her mate's help, I lost it. I growled at my wife, which was something I had never done and I sincerely needed to apologize to my behavior. It wasn't Esme's fault. It was mine, but my anger in that second rose from my chest with a furious growl.

"_Mi dispiace tanto, Esme. Mi scuso per ringhiare ieri. Ma è stato maleducato e fuori luogo. Potrà mai perdonarmi?_" I asked

"_Carlisle, Oh, certo che ti perdono! In realtà, non c'è nulla da perdonare, è stata completamente comprensibile. Ti amo, mia cara_."

"_Amore della mia vita_," I whispered, taking her lips once more.

"Carlisle… Esme," I heard Emmett and Rose both say from down the hall. "She's waking up."

Esme took my hand and pulled me from the room as we jogged down the hall. When we entered the small glass room, Cole's eyes were still closed, but her lips were curled downward in a frown. Immediately, I assumed she was in pain, so as Esme took her right hand, I took her left and gently touched her cheek.

"Cole, _tesoro_? Can you hear me? Are you in pain?" I asked as her mouth opened. It took her a moment before a small groan came out.

"No," she sighed, squeezing my hand and turning her face against my other hand.

"How do you feel, baby?" Esme asked.

"Like I hit a tree at a billion miles an hour."

Her lip curled slightly. She was trying to smirk.

"Not funny," I sighed, leaning down and kissing her forehead. She opened her eyes and pulled her hand from Esme's and placed it over mine on her cheek.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked as I sat down and she returned her hand to Esme, while I cupped her left on in both of mine.

"Well, you did hit a tree — hard. You have multiple broken ribs and a collapsed left lung, which had to fixed using a chest tube. It's relieving the pressure. Also, you had a ruptured spleen and a laceration to your liver. Your spleen was removed and the laceration was repaired during surgery. Those are the worst of your injuries, but I'm sorry to say that's not all.

"Your pelvis is fractured, but its stable and doesn't require surgery. It'll take a while to heal and it'll be hard to walk for a while, but you don't need to worry about that right now. Aside from that, you have a lot of bruising — mostly on your left side — and a few cuts and scrapes."

"Whoa," she whispered.

"Yes, whoa. We almost lost you, _tesoro_. I am so sorry."

She looked confused. "What? Why?"

"I should have protected you better. She shouldn't have been able to even touch you, let alone hurt you."

"You saved me. Why are you blaming yourself? Mommy, why is he blaming himself? No one is blaming him, right?" She looked around to everyone.

"No, honey. No one blames him, but you know your father. He likes to take the blame for everything, whether it's his fault or not," Esme said with a small smirk.

"Daddy, please stop. I don't blame you, so please don't blame yourself?" she asked as she lightly played with my wedding band — turning it around and sliding it back a forth. Though I certainly didn't agree with what I was about to say, I had to — for her.

"All right, _tesoro_, no more blame. Now, I imagine you're quite thirsty. Would you like some water or ice chips?" I asked as Rose passed me the cup with a spoon. I dug in and pulled one ice chip out with the spoon.

"My mouth's a little dry," she agreed as I lifted the spoon to her lips.

She rolled her eyes before allowing me to place the chip on her tongue. "I'm not two. I can do it," she mumbled as she swirled the ice chip around — sucking it down to nothing but water.

Esme held her hand out for the cup, so I passed it to her. Cole wasn't thrilled with Esme feeding her either, but the eye rolling died down some before long. Of course, Emmett had to make a joke. He told Cole to, quote… "open the tunnel for the choo-choo train". If looks could kill, Emmett would be six feet under within seconds from Cole's facial expression. Rose promised Cole she'd give him a well-deserved smack later. After a while, I noticed Cole blinking over and over. She was fighting to stay awake.

"_Tesoro,_ if you are tired, you need to sleep. Rest is the best thing for you right now. Don't fight it, okay?" I asked.

"I'm not tired," she lied.

"Why don't Rose and I go check out the home front. Make sure that bitch or her mate haven't made an appearance," Emmett said as Cole's eyes went wide.

"She's alive?" Cole whispered.

"Her mate found her and helped put her back together. But you don't need to worry about that. Worry about getting better, all right?" I asked, trying to persuade her.

"What if she hurts you? Or Esme, or Rose and Emmett. Why are we still here?"

"There are two of them and by tonight, six of us. We haven't made any decisions as to whether or not we're staying, but for now at least we don't have a choice. You need to be hospitalized. You were seriously injured and you're not even twenty-four hours post-op. Leaving right now isn't an option."

"Does Alice know what she's planning?"

Sometimes she was much too smart for her own good. I pinched the bridge of my nose before looking her in the eyes once more.

"Yes."

"What is she going to do?"

"She wants me dead — as revenge for tearing her apart."

I purposely left out the fact that the female wanted to kill Cole as well. She didn't need to know that just yet. Maybe in a few days, but right now her heart rate was becoming tachy and I didn't want to risk bringing it up any higher.

"You should have let her bite me," Cole whispered.

"No," I said sternly. "Don't ever think that. She wasn't going to change you, Cole. She was going to kill you. It wasn't about biting you. It was about killing."

"Then you should have let her kill me. I'm not worth your life being put at risk, because you stopped her, she wants to kill you. Carlisle, I'm so sorry. I'm putting you guys in danger," she cried as her breathing picked up.

I rubbed her arm. "I would give my life for you in an instant. Don't ever say you're not worth it because, you my dear, are worth it. Now, please slow your breathing."

Eventually, she did fall asleep. But only after I discreetly pressed her pain relieve button a few times. I couldn't seem to mind that it was wrong. Secretly drugging her was wrong, but she wasn't calming down on her own, so it was for the best. She needed sleep and if she wouldn't on her own, then a little encouragement was necessary. John came in for rounds a little after one with new blood work, which, thankfully, was good. He checked her incision and chest tube saying there was no sign of infection, which I already knew, seeing as how I did the same thing twice already.

A little later, Rose and Emmett left to check on the house. They said they would call, but after an hour, they still hadn't and I could tell Esme was getting just as worried as I was. They should have called by now. If everything were clear, they would have. Around three, Esme's phone vibrated and I answered — seeing as how it was Emmett.

"Emmett, is everything all right?"

"Carlisle, we have a problem. The male has been here."

"What happened? Are you and Rose alright?"

"Yeah, we didn't actually get a hold of him, but he specifically went through Cole's room and your study. Everything is destroyed. I think he was trying to figure out what Cole was to you because there's a picture with writing on it. It's of you, Esme, and Cole and on the back he wrote a message."

"What did he write?"

"She's dead and he etched out Cole's face. I think you really pissed him off by tearing his mate apart."

"They won't give up," I sighed. "She wants revenge, and as her mate, so does he. We need a plan. We can't stay here."

"Well, that's not all, Carlisle. We followed his scent to just outside of the hospital. He didn't stick around, but he was here and I'm guessing he knows Cole's here."

"He was here?"

"Yeah, and I don't think he's too concerned about staying inconspicuous. We found a body just at the tree line — drained waiting to be found."

"Emmett, I need you to find someone that you can buy a jet from. Once you do, I don't care how much it costs, get it on a runway and tell me where to meet you. Cole isn't safe here," I said before I hung up the phone.

"Carlisle, what's the plan?" Esme asked.

"The hospital will notice if she goes missing and suspicion will fall on us quickly once we're gone as well. The only solution is for them to think Cole has died. We have to fake her death and we don't have much time to do it."

"How?"

"We need help."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

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	20. Chapter 20

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Truthfully, I didn't know if he would help. I didn't know how he would even react. All I did know, was I couldn't do this without his help. I needed someone else to verify Cole didn't have a pulse when clearly, she did. As I sat in my office at the hospital trying to figure out how to even approach Josh, I was worried and no amount of thinking helped. I knew if he said no I couldn't let him just walk away — not after telling him why I needed his help. The thought of what I would have to do to someone I considered a trusted friend, disgusted me. He was innocent in this, and if I were being logical, I wouldn't even consider involving him. Despite what I wanted to believe, there was in fact another way. "Kidnap" Cole. We could take her from the hospital and disappear.

The problem with that was the fact it would make national headlines and none of us would ever be able to return to this country, possibly any society for close to one-hundred years. The media and police would start digging into my family and I couldn't be sure they might not find something suspicious. Something that would reveal how old we really were or at least the fact that we weren't who we said we were. The suspicion would go all the way to the Volturi. We would all be killed if the secret was in any way, shape, or form in danger. As I rested my head in my hands, my office phone rang. I instinctively picked it up.

"Dr. Carlisle Cullen speaking," I answered.

"You need more help than just Josh. You need a distraction. Also, stop worrying about Josh. He'll agree, but you'll have to tell him what we are and why it's so important to get Cole away," Alice's voice said.

"What type of distraction?"

"Another dead person. Me."

"You? What are you talking about?"

"No one has seen me or Jasper. They don't know us, so when Jasper and I arrive in the ICU — me collapsing to the floor and well, Jasper pulling out a gun, everyone will be focused on us. I'll pretend to go into cardiac arrest. Jasper will force people to "bring me back" and while that is going on, you attach Cole's heart monitor to yourself. She won't have a pulse.

"Since everyone will be distracted by the man with a gun, the crash team won't be able to respond. You'll pretend to try and save her while Josh helps. Obviously, you won't be able to. After everything is over and Jasper runs, away leaving me dead on the floor, Cole and I will be taken to the morgue where Emmett and Rose will be waiting with a van. You and Esme will act devastated, Josh will back you up, and soon enough it will be over. Cole will be at the airfield with us until you and Esme arrive after signing papers saying you want Cole cremated. We'll plant an already dead body in Cole's place. It'll be cremated, and no one will be the wiser."

"When does this happen?"

"Tomorrow at six o'clock in the morning. The hospital will be short staffed, and the ICU will only have one doctor and four nurses who will all be busy trying to save a girl who's been dead for close to one-hundred years. Josh's shift starts at seven, so people will think he just came by to visit you before starting work. It all works out, Carlisle. And I promise, Jasper will take care of Cole until you can get to the plane. He's been to medical school twice in your place, so he knows how to keep her stable."

"How long after Cole dies until we're in the air?"

"About three hours. You're going to have to stay at the hospital for a bit to fill out paperwork. The hospital will be on lockdown anyway."

"Do we have enough time to pull it off? The body, the plane, van, medical equipment?"

"Yes."

"And Jasper. Is he all right with what we're asking?"

"It was his idea. Besides. he's not actually going the have a loaded gun. I promise, Carlisle, no one will be hurt. Everyone will think Cole died from her injuries and you tried to save her."

"This is very risky. What if someone tries to start an IV while they attempt to resuscitate you?"

"Jasper won't let them. He'll appear deranged and if anyone goes near me with a needle, they'll have a gun pointed at them."

"What about your body?"

"I came in with a deranged gunman. There will be security footage of Jasper taking me out of the morgue before the cameras are disconnected, so we can get Cole out."

"All right, so at six o'clock, Josh and I will be in Cole's room You and Jasper will come in. You'll collapse and Jasper will pull a gun and force all the medical staff in the unit to care for you. When will I change Cole's leads to me?"

"After Jasper gives the signal. He'll scream for the doctor and nurses to save me. Those exact words, "save her!". When you hear them, change the leads. Someone will try to come in, but Jasper will stop them. Just keep yelling for help to make it seem like you need the staff."

"And you're sure you can do it? You'll have to make it seem like the doctor is pressing on your chest. They might even shock you."

"Oh, they will, few times, actually. But I can do it."

"Medical equipment… I need plenty of supplies. How can we get them to Isle Esme?"

"They'll be waiting for you on the jet. Here in a little bit Emmett and Rose will break into a medical supply store and get everything you need. I already texted them a list. Trust me, Carlisle; this will work."

"I do trust you, but there are so many variables that you can't see. If something goes wrong, we still have to get Cole on that jet."

"Nothing will go wrong as long as we follow the plan. Call Josh. Get him to meet you in your office and talk to him. Explain everything. He can handle it, and I promise we can trust him."

"I pray so, Alice," I said as I hung up the phone and dialed down to the ER asking for Josh.

He picked up the phone and said he was just about to take a break to check on Cole, so I asked him to come to my office first. I tried to pull all of my thoughts together, but when he knocked on my door I still hadn't.

"Come in," I called.

He opened the door and took a seat with a curious look on his face.

"Is everything all right?" he asked as I took a deep breath.

Was he shocked? Yes. Appalled? Certainly. Did he agree? Unbelievably, yes. He called me insane a few times, shaking his head to try wrap it around the idea that not only did vampires exist, but that he had been working with one for some time. I wasn't convinced he understood the gravity of the situation until he asked if this was the only way to save Cole.

"Unfortunately, yes. These other vampires are nothing like Esme and I. They are killers and won't stop until both Cole and I are dead or they are."

"Then why leave? Why not just kill them?"

"We have no idea where they are, and the fact that they could care less if humans find out, makes the situation unpredictable. More innocent lives could be lost if we don't leave."

"I take it your never coming back?"

I shook my head. "No, this will be the last night we spend here. We're going far away to a private island off the coast of Brazil. If they follow, we can fight them easier with a guarantee of no innocent lives lost and our secret will stay a secret."

"So, you and I will run a code on Cole. No one will help because another vampire is going to pretend to die and the doctor and nurses will be tied up with her because of a gunman. This is nuts, Dr. Cullen. This isn't real. Things like this don't happen. Vampires aren't real," he scoffed.

"Watch this and tell me if you still believe that," I said, taking a framed picture off my desk and turning it into dust with one hand. I crushed it — frame and all — in less than a second. He gaped at me.

"Fuck," he mumbled, shaking his head. "Does Cole know? Does she agree?"

"I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet. She already asked why we hadn't left, so I doubt she'll be opposed." I

"I'm only helping if she agrees. If she doesn't, then she's staying here. I don't care what you are. You're not going to hurt her."

It was then I realized exactly how much Cole meant to him. He cared for her safety and wellbeing. He was willing to go head to head with me to keep her safe. What he said next, though, surprised me more than anything.

"I'm coming with."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	21. Chapter 21

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Josh's POV**

I wasn't going to let Dr. Cullen just run away with Cole. I thought I knew him, but obviously I didn't. How could I be sure she would be safe? Obviously, he can lie. He had been doing it for God knows how long. He was a vampire after all. She wasn't safe alone with them. She was just a child. It didn't matter if Dr. C or his "family" could kill me in a second. I would help Cole, and I wasn't leaving her alone with them.

"No," Dr. Cullen whispered shaking his head. "You have life and it's not involved in ours. After Cole is out of the hospital, you can pretend none of this happened. Pretend you never heard anything I just said."

"I don't care; I'm coming. If you want my help, then I'm coming with."

"Then we don't need your help. I'll come up with a new plan that doesn't involve you."

"No! You need me and I'm helping. You're not the only person Cole is important to. She's found her way into my heart as well, so don't think I'm just going to let you run off with a child that I care about, too. I'm coming with and you can't stop me."

"I can stop you. Don't ever think I can't. You realize you'll be leaving your family for God knows how, long right? Your parents, your sister, and all of your friends. Bringing you means another person we have to protect, which means your life will be in danger. You could die."

"Once your safe there and I know she'll be all right, I'll come back. But until she's safe, where she goes I go."

After going over the plan once more, we went to see Cole. Dr. C had to talk to her about what was happening. Part of me hoped she wouldn't go along with it — that she wouldn't want to do this, but I knew she would. She had to. It was the only way to keep her safe. Dr. Cullen made sure to inform me she didn't know that she was the one the crazy vamps were after. She was told they just want to kill him. I could understand that. No use in scaring her when she's already in such a fragile state. The plan was to fake her death, not actually cause it. When we walked in, Mrs. Cullen was there holding her hand. She was still asleep, which wasn't odd considering she needed to rest.

"Dr. Cullen, what if someone realizes she didn't actually die?"

"First off, call me Carlisle. And to answer your question, we have to pray no one does. It would be bad. Suspicion would fall on all of us since we all disappeared. Warrants would be issued by the police — possibly the FBI — to find Esme and I, and most likely you as well. Are you sure you still want to come?" he asked.

I expected Esme to be surprised by hearing that I was coming, but she wasn't. She kept her eyes on Cole — gently running her fingers through Cole's hair. I guess she knew. How, I had no idea.

"Yeah, I'm not changing my mind."

My mind told me to. To run away and forget everything I now know, but I couldn't leave Cole. She needed me.

"All right, I guess we should talk to her."

He gestured to Cole before taking her hand and lulling her awake.

After Cole was alert, she realized something was up. She asked Carlisle and he flat out told her. I couldn't understand how a fourteen year old could just accept all of this — the fact she had to be dead to the world. But she did. After Carlisle went over the plan again and again to be sure she understood, Cole raised her eyes to me.

"Don't come," she said.

"Don't try talking me out of it, sweets. 'Cause I'm not changing my mind."

"You're an idiot, she told me in all seriousness.

Carlisle and Esme didn't hide the tiny chuckles, because it was true. I was an idiot. Willingly involving myself with vampires was stupid, even if the Cullen's were as "good" as they seemed to be.

"So are you. You knew what they were and stayed with them?" I asked.

"I love them. I never had parents, Josh. Carlisle hasn't even told you half of my story — I'm sure of it. I was given away when I was little. Just thrown away like an old pair shoes that they didn't like anymore. No one ever cared. Not the social workers, not the foster families… No one. The Cullen's saved me. They found me on the street after… _Mark,_" she winced at the name, "hurt me. I was in shock and literally freezing to death.

"They realized that I couldn't be helped by taking me to a hospital, so they took me to their home. If they had taken me to the hospital that night, I would have gone back to a group home or something, which I would have run away from again. I've been hurt over and over my entire life by humans. If I stayed in Duluth, _he _would have found me or in my desperation, I would have gone back to him. I would have let him kill me, because before Carlisle and Esme, I didn't have much of a reason to live. So, you're asking why I stayed with them after they told me? Well, I stayed because I love them and now I'm doing this to keep them safe. Carlisle is my dad and I don't want him hurt. So if faking my death saves him, then I'll do it over and over again. I'd do anything for them. Just like they have for me," she said. "Now why are you doing this?"

"I've known you for a month, but the first time I saw you, I knew I cared. I don't know why I want to protect you, but I do and I'm helping for that reason — because I want to."

"I don't need you to protect me. Carlisle and Esme won't hurt me. You know Carlisle. I mean, you may have just found out _what _he is, but that doesn't change_ who_ he is. He's kind, compassionate, loving, and he cares about people more than he should."

"I know, but come on. You don't seriously want to be the only human on an island do you?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't see them as vampires and me as human. I see us as a family — period. Josh, you have a life here and I don't want you to give it up for me."

"Then I won't — not entirely. After I know your safe, I'll come back. I'll tell the hospital that watching you die and the "gunman" scared the hell out of me and I need some time. Once everything settles and you still want me to come back, I will." I

"Don't come," she said again.

"I already told you, you're not going to change my mind."

"Please, don't. I can't stand the idea of you getting hurt because of me. If you care about me, you'll listen and you won't come with. Look at me. My entire left side is a broken mess because she-vamp threw me into a tree. They can do worse. They will do worse if you get in the way. If I had my way with this, Carlisle and Esme wouldn't even be taking me with because it's my fault this is happening. So please, don't come. I'll beg, I'll plead, just don't come," she cried.

I walked over and Esme moved, so I could take her hand.

"You'll call me, write me, and once the dust settles, I will see you again."

"Vacation on a private island?" she said with a ghost of a smile.

I laughed. "I'll take you to Disney world."

She smirked. "I'm not four but I have never been."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	22. Chapter 22

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

It was a little past five in the morning when I had to reluctantly wake Cole up, so I could talk to her and explain exactly what would be happening and what I needed her to do for me. As of now, everything was going according to plan. I talked to Alice again last night after she and Jasper arrived at the house with Emmett and Rose. They were loading items that we wanted to take with us to Isle Esme into Esme's SUV. My cross was the only thing I cared about coming with for me, but I wanted everything of Cole's. If we could bring things she was accustomed to maybe, just maybe, this transition would be easier for her.

Emmett and Rose already had the medical supplies I would need on the jet and the larger pieces of equipment were being shipped to a storage locker outside of Rio. Pieces like an x-ray machine, an ultrasound machine, an operating table, a hospital bed, a ventilator — pieces that were much too large to bring on the jet. I planned on setting up a complete operating room on Isle Esme. I didn't know what kind of problems Cole could develop, so I wanted to be sure I had access to everything I would in an actual hospital. From the x-ray machine, to a full fledge operating room, I wanted it. Cost was nothing to me, not with well over thirty-four-point-one billion dollars at my disposal. I knew I could take care of any problem that might arise as long as I had the equipment to do so.

If something was to happen and Cole needed surgery, I could operate there. Jasper could help, as well as Esme, if I needed. Jasper's control was very good, not as good as mine, but as long as he remained in the right frame of mind, I believed I could use him. Esme on the other hand, would be more difficult. She managed very well in the hospital, and let's just say the hospital smelt of nothing but blood and disinfectant, but I worried if she would be able to be in a room where I would be opening Cole up. Free flowing blood was harder to resist, but I truly believed her love for Cole would out way the blood lust. I just prayed I wouldn't have to operate.

Right now, Cole was stable — not out of the woods, but stable. Moving her could change that. A repair could tear and she could start bleeding out. We'd have to disconnect all of her tubes and IV's, giving the chance for fluid to build up around her lungs. That would be one of the only reasons another surgery would be necessary, unless she developed a complication that I couldn't anticipate — which was extremely possible.

As I lightly touched Cole's face, her eyes flew open and a gasp escaped her lips. Once her eyes registered me in front of her, she calmed down and sighed softly.

"Is it time?" she whispered.

"Not quite, but I want to go over what you should expect and what I need you to do. If that's all right?"

"M'kay."

"First off, you're going to hear me yelling, but don't get scared, okay?" I asked and she nodded. "When it comes time, I'm going to disconnect your heart monitor and connect it to me, so it looks like you don't have a pulse. You'll hear an alarm go off, and then I'm going to pretend to do chest compressions on you. I'll put my hands like this." I laid her back and positioned my hands over her chest. "And I'll press down softly. It needs to look harder, so when I press you, let yourself go into the mattress like so." I pressed lightly and she went into the mattress perfectly. "Good. While I do that, Josh will be giving you oxygen. Just breath and keep your eyes closed. No one should come in, but if they do, keep as still as possible."

"What about after? Who's taking me to the morgue?"

"Josh will be. Alice will already be down there, and from there, Rose and Emmett will load you into a van."

"And the van will take me to the jet, right?"

"Yes."

She understood perfectly, and I had no doubt she could do this.

"And after a little while, you and Esme will come and we'll leave?"

"Exactly."

"Don't let Josh come. Please, daddy, I don't want him hurt," she begged.

"I won't let him come unless absolutely necessary. Meaning something goes wrong."

"What if something does go wrong? What if someone realizes what we're doing?"

"We'll still leave. It's nothing you have to worry about. No matter what happens, by tonight, we will be on the island and this will be over."

"I'm sorry, Carlisle. I'm sorry I messed everything up."

"Hey." I touched her cheek. "Don't think like that. You've done no such thing. Esme and I love you more than anything, and we will do anything to keep you safe."

"But this isn't about me; it's about you. You're in danger because of me. If anything… if anything happens to you or anyone, I'll never forgive myself," she cried.

"Nothing will happen to me. Remember, six of us and two of them. Don't worry about that. I need you to focus on this right now. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's the only way. I can do it."

Once Josh arrived, Esme came back in with a small bag of makeup. When I asked why, she rolled her eyes and pulled out the lightest shade of cover-up you could find — almost white, actually — and black eye shadow. She applied it to Cole, who afterwards, truly looked deceased. She was so pale that if I didn't know any better, I would believe no blood flowed through her veins. The dark powder under her eyes added to it. When anyone looked at Cole after this, they would believe she were dead as long as Cole didn't move and kept silent — which I knew she would.

As I heard Alice and Jasper approach, I started applying new electrodes under my shirt. All I had to do, was disconnect her main line and connect it to the line that fell near my waist and she wouldn't have a heartbeat. I could do it so quickly, the machine wouldn't register the change and would immediately believe her heart had actually stopped. The readout would appear at the nurse's station, so we would have a record that her heart had stopped, and therefore, no one could be suspicious after everything was said and done.

It was simple, actually. The hospital would go on lockdown — no one allowed in or out of the units. Where you were, was where you would stay until everything was all clear. When I heard the door open, I knew there were only four nurses and one doctor in the unit not including Josh and I. Alice's tiny body hit the ground, and the panic started.

"Ma'am, ma'am!" a nurse yelled. "No pulse! Starting compressions," she said as I heard Jasper move and a scream. He had showed the gun.

"Don't let her die! I will kill you," he said. He was completely believable, no one would doubt he was telling the truth.

"Please, put the gun away. We're helping her," Dr. Matthews said.

"Save her!" Jasper yelled

That was my cue and Josh knew it as well. I changed the leads and the monitors alarm blared.

"Cole!" I yelled, pushing the chair I was in back as I laid her bed down flat and positioned my hands over her heart. Josh hit the code button above her head and grabbed the oxygen bag.

"We need help! Someone help me!" I yelled, feigning chest compressions as Josh started bagging Cole.

She did just as we planned. Every time I pressed lightly, she'd press herself into the mattress, so my compressions appeared harder — real.

"Don't fucking move!" Jasper yelled.

Clearly, a nurse had tried to come in like Alice said someone would.

"Someone else is dying. Please, sir, you don't need me. The doctor and other nurses are helping your friend," the nurse said as I heard Jasper cock the hammer back.

I prayed for the woman — silently apologizing for the anguish we were going to cause her. She would be distraught, actually, everyone in this hospital would. How many people would fear leaving their home every morning? How many citizens would put off medical care in fear of what had happened here today? That nurse would most likely suffer from post-traumatic-stress-disorder after having a gun pointed at her and the hammer cocked back — ready to fire. Would she ever be the same? Probably not. I knew I was being selfish, choosing Cole's safety over the wellbeing of every member in this community, but they wouldn't be killed — Cole would be.

"Help!" I yelled once more.

"No one move! Why aren't you saving her?" Jasper yelled — anguish filled his voice.

"Someone get an IV in. Push epi!" Dr. Matthews called.

"Don't touch her with that needle!" Jasper ordered as I heard the metal from the gun shaking in his hands. He was playing perfectly — acting distraught and crazed.

"Charge the paddles!" Matthews yelled.

"I need a crash cart!" I yelled out into the hallway.

Close to fifteen minutes had passed since this began, and so far, everything was going according to plan. I could hear the doctor shocking Alice's chest. It definitely didn't feel great to her, but it wouldn't be painful and it certainly wouldn't start her long dead heart. Another few minutes went by. The doctor in the hall was scrambling to try and save Alice under Jaspers order. He feared for his life as well as the staff's and patient's. I didn't doubt he wanted to be in here. He was torn between Alice and Cole. I was certain of it.

"She's gone," Matthews whispered, just loud enough Jasper — if he were human — would have heard.

"Keep trying!" Jasper pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. She's been down too long; we won't get her back," he said as I heard him move slightly closer to the door, as if sneaking away from Jasper.

"If you can't save my Allie, you can't save that one," Jasper told him.

"I know. Let me call your Allie's time of death, please, she's not in any pain, but if we keep trying, it will destroy her dignity. Let her go with dignity," Matthews pleaded as Jasper cried out in anguish. "Time of death, six-twenty-four. January twenty-fifth."

Jasper ran out, leaving Alice on the floor like we had planned. He would go down just outside of the morgue and wait for Alice and Cole to be brought down before Rose and Emmett loaded Cole into the van. I heard Dr. Matthews's quick steps towards the room as Josh looked at me.

"He'll listen to me. Just let me talk. You know what to do," I told him quietly as the doctor appeared.

"Carlisle?" he asked.

"She's not gone," I said forcefully as both of our eyes went to the monitor.

There was absolutely no activity — complete asystole. In any doctor's eyes. she was, in fact, gone.

"Cole, baby, come back," I cried out as I heard Esme's gasps of air from the side of the room.

"Carlisle," Josh said.

Our eyes met. It was for appearance. He was telling me to let her go, or at least that's what it looked like to the doctor.

"Cole, I love you," I whispered as I removed my hands and turned off the machine — discreetly reconnecting Cole's wires, so Matthew's wouldn't see it wasn't her that was connected.

"Do you need me to?" Matthews asked.

I looked to the clock. "Time of death…"

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	23. Chapter 23

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Josh's POV**

I sat in the back of the funeral home van holding my stethoscope over Cole's chest. I had to make sure her breathing stayed in a normal range without the chest tube. After Carlisle pronounced her, I injected enough morphine to knock her out, so she wouldn't feel him removing the tube. Dr. Matthew's left before Carlisle started removing the tubes and wires. I think he was giving Carlisle time, but it worked out perfectly. All the tubing needed to be removed before taking her to the morgue, otherwise, it could raise suspicion. If the doctor had stayed and I wasn't able to give her morphine, there was no way in hell she would have stayed still.

"Carlisle wants an IV back in once we get on the jet. When he gets there, he'll put the chest tube back in,," Alice said as she popped blue contact lenses from her eyes.

Jasper still wore the brown ones for some reason. I assume they used contacts so no one would see the resemblance between their eyes and Carlisle's. Gold eyes are not very common.

"I know. He also wants a morphine drip and fluids running. He told me," I said.

"She's going to be fine. We can all hear her heart and lungs perfectly. You don't need to constantly listen to her chest."

"It makes him feel better. Just let him," Jasper told her.

"Thanks," I mumbled, turning my attention back to Cole's breathing. In and out, no wheezing or gasps so far.

"You do know you're coming, right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I know."

I know Cole had asked me not to, but honestly, I couldn't stay here. Besides, Cole need around the clock care and, eventually, Carlisle would need a break, or at some point he may need another set of hands.

"Then why did you tell her you weren't coming?"

"It's easier to ask for forgiveness later, than get permission now."

Emmett laughed from the front seat. "Logical, but stupid. She's going to be pissed when she wakes up."

"She'll understand," Alice said with a smile as we came to a stop.

As the back door opened, I slung the stethoscope around my neck while Emmett and Jasper pulled the gurney with Cole out. We were at an airfield — an abandoned one. A decent sized jet waited not far from where we had parked, and Rose ran ahead to open the door and pull down the steps. Jasper and Emmett just carried the gurney up and in as I followed behind with Alice.

"How the hell did you get this?" I asked, looking around the spacious, luxurious aircraft.

"I know a guy that knows a guy. Nice. ain't it?" Emmett grinned as Jasper locked the gurney in place and moved to a cabinet pulling out supplies.

"IV kit and morphine drip. Shouldn't you get started?" Jasper asked, tossing me a pair of latex gloves as I snapped out of awe. Who the hell were these people?

"Uh, yeah."

I grabbed the tourniquet from the pack. Alice, Rose, and Emmett filed out of the jet before I even punctured Cole's skin, but Jasper stayed.

"So, you guys are sensitive to blood, right?" I asked.

"If that's what you want to call it."

"Then why can Carlisle be a surgeon?"

"Years of experience and self-control."

"No one else has his control?"

"Not as strong. I'm pretty good, but nowhere near as good as he is. Carlisle is kind of an exception that likes to make other exceptions." He laughed.

"What do you mean? Is he the only reason you guys don't drink from humans?" I asked, hooking up Cole's fluids before starting the morphine drip through another large bore IV in her other arm.

"None of us want to hurt people. No one chose this life, but we can choose whether or not to be killers. For many, many years, I was."

"You drank from humans?" I asked, suddenly feeling that this jet wasn't as big as I thought.

He started laughing lightly. "I'm not going to hurt you. But yes, I started my life as a vampire drinking from our natural food choice — humans. I didn't know there was another way, but I hated it. When you can feel everything your food feels, you tend to hate eating."

"What do you mean you could "feel" what they felt?"

"I'm an empath. I can feel, and to a degree, alter the emotions of people around me. Carlisle didn't explain that some vampires have… gifts?"

"I knew Alice did. She can see the future, but he didn't say anyone else had a gift."

"It's not exactly common, but then again, neither are vampires. May I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why are you here… Shit" he said a little louder as he grabbed an oxygen bag from the cabinet and placed it over Cole's face quickly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling the stethoscope from my neck and putting the buds in my ears before pressing the bell to Cole's chest. I heard it right away — the absent breath sounds on the left.

"Have you ever performed a needle decompression?" he asked.

"Not since I was an EMT."

"But you know how?"

"Yes, but she needs Carlisle. There are no breath sounds at all on the left. She needs another chest tube. The first one shouldn't have been removed."

"How long?" Jasper asked someone who was clearly not me before muttering "damn it".

"Carlisle will be here in ten minutes. She doesn't have ten minutes. I can guarantee you her blood pressure has dropped, and if we don't relieve some of the pressure, she's going to die. Twelve or fourteen?" he asked, giving me the bag to oxygenate Cole as he went to the cabinet.

"What?"

"Twelve or fourteen gage needle?"

"Fourteen."

He came back and spread the supplies out over Cole's stomach before taking the bag back.

"Why aren't you doing this? You've been to medical school, right?" I asked as I cleaned Cole's chest with the alcohol swabs.

"I never practiced. The last two years I pretended to transfer and Carlisle always took over," he said as I felt for Cole's second intercostal space and prepped the needle.

"Do you need to leave?" I asked, before finding the space once more.

"No, I can handle the blood. There shouldn't be much."

I pressed the needle in and heard the familiar pop before air rushed out.

"Check her blood pressure and what's her pulse?"

"Pulse is weak and tachy at one-forty," he said, wrapping the cuff around her little arm. He called out the low blood pressure next. It could have been worse and probably was before I relieved some of the pressure.

"All right, sweets, you're gonna be okay," I told Cole. "Color is returning to her lips, right? How do her breaths sound?"

"I'm hearing a little on the left now and her lips are turning back to pink."

"Good. That means we have time. Carlisle needs to get here, though. She still needs a chest tube. This isn't a fix, just a short term solution," I told him, taping down the catheter after pulling the needle back out.

As we waited for Carlisle, Jasper kept checking Cole's blood pressure and listening for any change in her breathing. Emmett came back and went into the cockpit to start up the engine. He started the ventilating system so the air was fresh. Jasper explained that they could smell any amount of blood, so ventilating the jet would get rid of the air filled with the scent of Cole's blood. That way, when Carlisle placed the chest tube and more bleeding would occur, the smell wouldn't be trapped in the jet. Probably a good idea, considering we would be flying from Minnesota to Brazil with only two quick stops on the way.

"How is she?" Carlisle asked as he appeared next to me — literally out of thin air — pressing his fingers to Cole's neck.

"Josh performed a needle decompression, so she went from no breath sounds on the left to minimal. Her blood pressure is holding steady just around eighty-over-fifty. Pulse is weak and tachy, but it's slowed down a little," Jasper informed him.

"Good. Jasper, why don't you go find the others? they went for a quick hunt before we took off," Carlisle said.

"Okay."

Jasper passed me the bag once more as I sat down near Cole's head.

"And Jasper, you did great today. Thank you." Carlisle told him as he nodded and walked out of the jet.

"You're coming, correct?" Carlisle asked.

"Cole can be mad, but yes, I'm coming."

"Thank you, Josh. Hopefully this is the only complication we encounter, but if it's not, I'll need you more than I realized."

He walked over to the cabinets and pulled out a new chest tube tray and pleurovac.

"She hasn't woken up, right?" he asked as he set everything out.

"Out like a light, and I've got her on the morphine drip."

"Good. I'm still going to numb the area just in case, but she's probably going to be out for a while. You can use the time to sleep. Obviously, you didn't last night," he said with a slight smirk.

"I got a few hours," I lied. I didn't sleep at all.

"Do you need to call anyone?"

"No. I already told the hospital I was leaving for a while. I didn't know if I was coming back. My sister and parents think I left this morning for a convention in New York."

"And when you don't come back in a few days?" he asked as he started prepping Cole's side.

"I don't know. I'll get a job offer as a private nurse for some rich guy, I guess. I'll just say the hostage thing scared the hell out of me and New York seemed like a good idea."

He looked up at me. "Some rich guy?"

I smirked. "Total douchebag, but he pays well."

"You're giving up an awful lot for us. Are you certain about this?"

"Yes. Stop asking me."

"You're twenty-eight years old. You have an entire life ahead of you that might be cut short if you come. I have to be sure you understand the consequences of the choice you're making," he told me as he picked up the scalpel. As if showing me what happens to humans in his world, he quickly cut into Cole and placed the tube.

"I know what I'm doing," I confirmed.

I truly did know what I was doing. I was following my heart for once. Cole had my heart, and I was coming with.

He smirked. "In that case, yes, this "douchebag", does pay very well."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	24. Chapter 24

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Esme's POV**

When we arrived back at the jet, the van was gone. Jasper must have hidden it before joining us on the short hunt. All that mattered was getting a good amount of blood in our systems so Cole or Josh didn't tempt us on the long flight to my island. Alice and Rose took a few wolves, Emmett a black bear and a wolf, me a few deer, and Jasper some elk. We were fed and that was all that mattered. Carlisle on the other hand hunted Friday morning before he went to work. Unlike us, he could go longer, so he was fine and would be for at least a week — probably longer knowing him.

I couldn't help but worry. Carlisle told me Cole would need the chest tube back in, but that didn't change the fact that something had gone wrong and Cole's life was once again in danger. The poor girl was always in danger. My poor daughter couldn't catch a break. From birth, her life had been nothing but pain. If only we could go back in time and save her from the life she lived — save her from the pain she would go through.

"Esme… are you all right?" Jasper asked as we stood outside of the jet.

"Of course, dear."

"You don't feel all right."

I smiled softly. "I'm just worried and ready for everything to be normal — or normal for us."

"She's worth the pain, right?" he asked as I gasped — taken aback by the question. Of course, Cole was worth it! Never has there been a doubt in my mind that Cole was worth the sun and the moon. "I don't mean to sound like that. That wasn't the right question."

"Jasper, Cole is our daughter as much as Rose and Alice are, and you and Emmett our sons. I can never doubt that she is worth everything, just as much as all of you."

"I know. I can feel that. It's just these emotions are so raw. Carlisle is projecting such guilt for this and you so much worry. I realize why, but I can't understand why one human is causing such anguish. Trust me. I love her too, but we're going to great lengths to keep her human and safe. I can't help but see the other option."

"What other option?"

"To not keep her human. Keep her safe, but not human."

"We can't change her!"

"Why not? We can go to the island and change her. It would give us enough time to train her, and that way, when these vampires attack — which I'm sure they will — it's one less thing we have to worry about."

"She's a baby, Jasper. My baby… Carlisle's baby. She's so young and I refuse to make this choice for her under distress. She can have that option someday. Just not now."

"She wouldn't be an immortal child."

"I know that," I told him as Carlisle came down the stairs off of the jet and wrapped his arms around me.

"Cole isn't going to be changed because of this. One day, if she wants, she can have that option, but not until she is much older and certainly not because of this," Carlisle said. "Jasper, I see your point. It might be safer, but I won't condemn her to this life when we have other options. We don't even know if she wants it. And I am not having our child turned unless she wants it and there are no options."

"I understand. And I didn't mean to upset you, Esme. I love you," Jasper said, placing a hand on my back.

I turned out of Carlisle grasp and wrapped my arms and Jasper. "I love you too, Jazzy," I whispered in his ear.

"We need to go," Alice's voice said, filling the air with panic.

"Allie, what's wrong?" Jasper asked, running and pulling her into his arms.

"The male. He caught Carlisle and Esme scent. He's maybe five minutes away. If we leave now, everything will be fine," she said.

"Let's go then. Is Emmett ready?" Carlisle asked as we ran up the steps into the jet.

"Yep, we're good to go. Just shut the door," Emmett said from the cockpit as Jasper pulled the steps up and latched the door closed.

I sat down near Cole's feet. Josh was at her head, switching hands as he gave her oxygen.

"Josh, I'll take over. You need to buckle up," Carlisle said as they switched places.

Josh sat down in the seat across from me next to Alice and Jasper. Rose was in the cockpit with Emmett. We were all here — safe. All except Cole that is. Carlisle kept pressing in the bag every few seconds over her face.

"She is breathing," he told me. "I'm just giving her some extra oxygen as a precaution. When I take the mask away, her breathes are little more shallow. This just tells her body to take a deeper breath. That's all, Esme. She's all right."

The jet began moving, and before long, we were in the air. Josh had fallen asleep and Carlisle kept giving Cole oxygen. Alice and Jasper sat in each other's arms, relaxing, as we glided through the sky.

Our first stop was just outside of Houston, Texas. We needed to top off the fuel. We weren't there for very long. Jasper had developed a flight plan for Emmett to follow;. After all, as long as we stuck to the plan, the FAA would have no reason to suspect a thing. We were just a private jet flying down to Brazil on vacation.

"Carlisle, why don't I do that for a little while?" Jasper asked.

"All right, I need to change her fluids anyway," Carlisle said, standing up so Jasper could sit.

Carlisle switched the now empty bag of clear fluids to a full one. It hung beside the small bag of antibiotics, which would have to be changed soon as well. Both of those went into her right arm. Her left was the morphine. Carlisle mumbled to himself about placing a central line again. Better access for long term antibiotics and pain medicines, he said.

"She hated that thing, _amore_," I told him as he sat down with me and I snuggled into his side.

"I know, but I'm only thinking about her health. Would she rather have multiple IV's that need to be replaced, or one triple-lumen central venous catheter? It's not something I should even think about right now. I can't place it until we reach the island, if I do decide to," he said. resting his head in the crook of my neck.

"She's going to be fine. You know that, right?"

"Of course. She's going to be just fine with time."

The flight in total was over eighteen hours. We were barely half way through as of now and Cole still wasn't awake. Carlisle said that was fine. With the morphine Josh gave her and the drip, her sleeping this long was normal. Josh had woken up a few hours ago. Alice brought out a bag with a change of clothes for everyone and gave Josh his with a toothbrush. He came out of the tiny bathroom in a new pair of jeans and a lightweight hoodie, looking much more refreshed. Jasper let him take over with Cole as Carlisle changed the dressing on Cole's stomach.

"Part of me really wants to remove these staples and put in small sutures to reduce the scar," Carlisle said as he spread an ointment over her long incision.

"I don't think she'll mind the scar," I said.

"No, she probably won't, but I do. She shouldn't have this scar in the first place. It's the least I can do to reduce the appearance."

"She doesn't want you blaming yourself, Carlisle."

"I know, I know," he whispered.

"How's her finger?"

"The least of her problems, but I do need to change the dressing," he said as he placed a new white bandage over her stomach before lifting her right hand up and unwrapped her index finger. I took her hand from him and lightly kissed her finger above the cut.

I smiled, giving him back her hand. "I never got the chance to kiss a boo-boo."

"She's waking up," he said as we looked to her face.

"Should I really be the first person she sees?" Josh asked.

"Let me take over," I said as we moved around again.

I took the blue bag with the face mask in my hands and squeezed the air out as Cole started moving her head from side to side — trying to get away from the oxygen.

"Just breathe, _tesoro_," Carlisle told her, wrapping her finger and placing her hand on her stomach before taking her left hand in both of his — kissing the back of it.

"Over?" Cole mumbled with her eyes still closed tightly.

"Yes, we're halfway to Brazil. Why don't you open those beautiful green eyes for us?" he asked as her eyes squeezed tighter, and then opened halfway, meeting mine.

I smiled down at her. "Hello, sweetie."

"Mommy," she sighed, opening her eyes wider and looking around. Thankfully, Josh was out of her view, so we wouldn't have to explain that right away.

"Hi, I'm Alice!" Alice sang, waving her hand before taking Jaspers. "This is Jasper," she told Cole.

"Hi," Cole whispered.

"Rose and Emmett are in the cockpit. How are you feeling, baby?" Carlisle asked, looking at her face intently.

"Tired. Did I fall asleep?"

"There was a small part of the plan we didn't tell you, I'm afraid. We gave you some morphine and it pretty much forced you to sleep," he said, looking guilty.

"You drugged me?" she asked before a small smile played on her lips and she let out a short snort, giggle.

He smirked. "Wasn't the first time, but technically I didn't do it."

"Is Josh okay?" she asked as Carlisle looked up to me.

"Nothing went wrong. Well, nothing than what we anticipated, but, _tesoro_, Josh… He didn't stay in Minnesota."

Worry flashed in her eyes first, and then confusion as she tried looking around, but was bound to the gurney by the straps so she didn't move while we flew. Next was realization. She knew Josh was here and when he came over, it just confirmed it.

"Hey, sweets," Josh said.

"Why are you here?" she asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"I needed to be. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, but I couldn't leave you."

"I wish you didn't come, but since you did… Thank you," she said as he bent down and kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome. By the way, it was me that drugged you." He laughed.

"People need to stop doing that," Cole said, looking between Josh and Carlisle.

I couldn't help but giggle as did everyone else.

"We'll try, but no promises." Carlisle smirked as he kissed her forehead, leaving his lips there for a moment. I watched as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "I love you so much, _tesoro_. Everything will work out. I promise that," he said as his lips left her forehead.

"I know, daddy."

She lifted both of her arms as if they weighed hundreds of pounds and placing them around Carlisle's neck. He lifted her up a little and wrapped his arms around her very carefully. Cole just dug her face in his neck and sighed as she whispered daddy.

Eventually, Carlisle and Cole separated and I got my chance to hold her. Now that she was awake, Carlisle said the extra oxygen wasn't as necessary. Every once in a while, he would tell her to breath deeper. To which she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath — wincing in pain.

"I know it hurts, but you have to breathe as deep as you can to keep your lungs clear of fluid. Once the chest tube comes out, I'm going to have you cough, so just be happy you don't have to do that yet," Carlisle told her.

"Fantastic," she muttered, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

I think she knew that would be painful and tried to rid herself of the thought. I gave her smile when she looked at me. She smiled lightly back.

"So the house on the island isn't quite as large as our old home, but you will have a nice open bedroom. Once everything is settled, we can find bedding that you'll like and you can make it yours," I told her, changing the subject to what I thought was a better one. I was wrong as tears started forming in her eyes.

"I hate she-vamp," she cried. I knew full well that was her name for the female vampire that attacked her, but what I didn't know was what made her say that. "Why couldn't she have just gone the other way? Then none of this would be happening. We wouldn't have had to leave our home — your home."

"It was our home, but darling, this will be our home as well. As long as we're together, we will make wherever we are home."

"You're not mad? You loved that house. It screamed_ you_. And now, we can't go back."

"Sweetie, we've had many, many homes over the years. That house will always be special to me because it was your first home with us, but I'm not mad for leaving it. It was going to happen eventually. And eventually, we'll leave the island and find another home. Minnesota will always be special because our family grew there. Certain places will always be special and nothing can change that. One day, if you'd like, we can go back and visit," I told her as I wiped her tears.

"You know, all of Cole's things are in the cargo hold. Her bedding, clothing, computer, everything," Alice said.

"I almost forgot. Did it all fit?" I asked as Alice nodded eagerly.

"What about my necklace? I was wearing when everything happened." Cole said.

"I have it." Carlisle said, pulling the white gold heart from his pocket. "It was with your clothing that had to be cut off. I was going to give it back as soon as I could, but I think I became a little attached to it." He smiled.

"Why?"

"I just liked having a part of you with me all the time," he said as he started to unclasp it so he could put it back around Cole's neck.

"Would you keep it? I mean, for a while at least. I don't really want to wear a necklace right now, and if I held on to it, I might lose it."

"Are you sure?" he asked as she nodded.

He smiled and tucked it back in his pocket for safe keeping.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	25. Chapter 25

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

After about an hour, Cole fell back asleep. There wasn't much to do and she needed rest, so it was the best choice. The plan was to land on the island. It had a small runway that we normally land small twin engines on — nothing this large. Emmett was certain he could do it, so I wasn't worried. The runway itself was about a half mile from the house, so I would have to carry Cole to the house while running. It wouldn't take even a minute, so it wouldn't be hard. I felt bad for Josh, though. Someone would have to carry him, which might feel a bit strange for a grown man, but at least it would be quick — versus walking the half mile through the overgrown, tropical forest.

As she slept, Cole's breathing became shallow again. I contemplated using an oxygen tank, but it would just be easier to use the bag-valve-mask — which was what I did. A human would have gotten tired pressing the bag every few seconds, thankfully, I didn't. I would do this as long as she needed.

I watched Cole. Each time her chest rose and fell, was a small victory in my mind. She was breathing and her heart was beating. She was, in fact, alive and would stay alive. Her little head was turned slightly to the right, facing the window and her hands stayed by her sides. Esme held her left one as she sat on the edge of the gurney that was lifted slightly. Cole was still wearing the blue hospital gown. It made it easier for me to have access to her injuries, but I could tell Alice was itching to change her into something else.

"Thank you!" Alice said as she grabbed the bag with clothes in it. She pulled out a white and pink polka dotted button up night shirt and matching pants.

"We have to careful of the chest tube. I need access to it," I told her as she pulled out a strapless white bandana type bra.

"No one wants their father seeing their chest," Alice said as I moved back, letting her and Esme work Cole out of the hospital gown.

Jasper and I suddenly found the left side window very interesting. Josh, on the other hand, snored lightly — sound asleep. When Esme announced they were done, I sat back down and pumped a few breathes for Cole. She looked much more comfortable and, of course, cute as always in the pajama set.

"Adorable. And we didn't even wake her up!" Alice sang as she pulled the blankets back up to Cole's chin. I had made sure Rose brought the bluish-green throw Cole loved. It was warm and soft over the standard hospital sheet.

"Darlin, if you want Cole to stay asleep, maybe lower the voice." Jasper chuckled, pulling her back down next to him. She giggled and kissed his cheek.

"This is Captain Emmett. We will be landing shortly in beautiful Brazil to refuel before we make our final descent to the lovely Isle Esme. Named after our very own Esme Cullen. If only the island were as beautiful as her. If you look out your… Ow," Emmett said over the intercom as we heard a very hard slap.

"People are sleeping. Just talk. Don't use that thing," Rose said.

"Thank you," Josh mumbled as he adjusted himself in the seat — clearly having been woken up by Emmett's ridiculous, though flattering to Esme, announcement.

"Sweet boy," Esme giggled.

After refueling, we were back in the air around midnight in Rio De Janeiro. We would be on the island in less than a half an hour, so Jasper started moving the medical supplies to a bag from the cabinet. I wasn't going to disconnect Cole's chest tube until right before I ran with her. That way, it would only be disconnect for a minute. If I could, I wouldn't disconnect it at all, but the pleurovac needed to stay below chest level, and I couldn't hold that and Cole while running. As we started our descent, Josh woke up and helped me stop her IV drips. Esme would exit the plan first to run ahead and open up the house — turning on the lights — so I could take Cole straight to a bed. Jasper would carry Josh first, and then go back to help unload the plane. The medical supplies were the first thing that needed to come in.

"When will the equipment be in Rio?" I asked Jasper.

"Tomorrow morning. Emmett and I are going to the main land, renting a boat, and bringing it over after dark," he said as I taped down Cole's IV's.

She started to stir, probably from the pressure change, which would make her ears hurt. I pressed my hand to her face and she turned into it before opening her eyes.

"Are we there?" she asked.

"Landing as we speak. Are your ears okay?" I asked.

"Clogged, but I'm fine."

"Try swallowing. From what I've been told, it helps."

I felt the wheels touch down gently. We had finally arrived, and I think everyone sighed in relief. The long journey was over. Cole was anxious to get off the jet. I could see it in her eyes and I watched as her right foot twitched. I disconnected the drainage system after we came to a stop. Esme opened the door and I wrapped an arm around Cole's back and the other under her knees. She wrapped both arms around my neck as I picked her up off the gurney.

"Close your eyes, _tesoro_. We'll be going quite fast," I warned her as I stepped off the jet.

My feet touched the pavement, and I took off. I felt her arms tighten around my neck as I sped through the jungle. Her knuckles were probably white as she griped my neck with her little hands. As I approached the open villa, I slowed down until we were at walking pace. Esme left the door open and light flooded the home. It guided me back to one of the three bedrooms where Esme was waiting with the pleurovac and the bed turned down. I laid Cole down, but she was reluctant to release my neck. She did after a few seconds, but kept her eyes closed tight.

"Carlisle, Alice just texted me. Cole will need this," Esme said, handing me a small wastebasket.

A few more seconds passed before Cole's eyes shot open and landed directly on the basket, in which she lost the minuscule amount of fluids from her stomach. After she finished, Esme wiped her mouth and gave her some water. She slipped lightly before she rested her head against the plush headboard and groaned in pain. Clearly, vomiting with broken ribs would be painful, but adding lightheadedness from motion sickness didn't help.

"How are you doing, _tesoro_?" I asked, gently caressing my thumb over her left hand.

"Better, but a little nauseous still."

She moaned as Josh walked in, shaking his head and blinking his eyes.

"Fun ride, huh, sweets?" he asked before his eyes landed on the wastebasket now at my side. "Oh." He handed me the bag with medical supplies. "I think Jasper put some Phenergan in there."

I found the medication, which often remedied motion sickness, and after injecting it into Cole's IV, I hooked the fluids, antibiotics, and pain medication back up.

"The Phenergan tends to make people a little drowsy. Adding that to the morphine, I expect you'll fall asleep again soon. Don't fight it. Sleep is good right now," I told her.

"I'm tired of sleeping," she groaned.

"You just contradicted yourself," Josh teased.

"Shut up."

I tried not to chuckle. Obviously, she wasn't in the mood to be corrected, and I was certain she wouldn't want to be laughed at, so I stopped myself. Cole ran her hand through her hair and pulled it back — repulsed looking.

"Eww. I need to bathe."

"How about we do that tomorrow? I'll wash your hair and get you all cleaned up," Esme suggested.

"I think that's the best idea. Tonight you sleep and tomorrow, if you're up to it, Esme and the girls will get you cleaned up some. I'm sure Alice has plenty of clothing options for you." I chuckled lightly.

"I do," Alice sang from a few hundred yards away, making Esme and I laugh. Josh and Cole just looked confused.

"She does," Esme said as she lulled Cole to sleep by caressing her cheek and humming lightly. Cole was out in minutes.

As the night went on, the medical supplies were put in one bedroom and Josh was shown to the other. This home certainly wasn't big enough for all of us. There was a loft room upstairs, but as far as bedrooms went, all were full. Luckily, no one else needed to sleep. We would have to figure out the arraignments some other time. For now, Cole had a room, Josh had a room, and everyone else would just have to endure. Jasper suggested building two small bungalows on the island. There was also a small pool house that could be cleaned out, as well. I trusted Esme would have everything figured out shortly — designs and all even down to the color patterns.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	26. Chapter 26

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Cole was the most compliant patient you could find. It had been three days since we've been on the island. I decided to go ahead and remove Cole's chest tube today. She would have more mobility with it out and from the x-ray I took, she really didn't need it any longer. She was overjoyed when I told her this — absolutely thrilled.

"It's coming out now, right?" she asked as I stood next to her bed with the tray in my hands.

"Yes, it's coming out now. I can either do it in here or the medical room. Where would you prefer?"

She smiled. "Here's fine."

I moved the pillows from behind her, while she sat up. I laid the sterile drape down over the bed before having her lay back down flat. After clamping the tube, I removed the dressings over the insertion site. Her bruising was still very visible, along with the swelling from her broken ribs.

"All right, _tesoro_. Take a deep breath and hold it for me. You'll feel some mild discomfort, but it shouldn't be painful," I told her as she held her breath.

I quickly pulled the tube free and tightened the sutures that held it in place to close the hole. The hole from the first tube was still covered, so now her entire left side was taped up tightly.

"You can breathe normally now. How do you feel?" I asked.

"So much better!" she said as she looked at me. "Thank you for getting that out of me."

She smiled as I helped her button the little night shirt back up.

"You're very welcome. Now, would you mind indulging me a little for another chest x-ray?"

I wanted to make sure there was no air trapped around her lung, though, I highly doubted there was. She was breathing perfectly.

She smirked. "Sure. It gets me out of this room, actually, out of house."

She put her arm around my neck and I picked her up. I carried her to the pool house, where Emmett and Jasper had set up the large equipment pieces. The x-ray machine really wasn't very large, but we went ahead and put it in the room with the operating table — just in case. After looking over the x-ray, I took Cole back to her room and cleaned everything up.

"So where is everyone?" she asked.

"Alice, Jasper, Esme, and Josh all went to the main land. It's raining for once, and Esme wanted to get some shopping done. Rose and Emmett are somewhere on the island, not too far."

"Can they hear us?"

"Not unless I yell."

"So, it's just us?"

I smiled. "Yes."

"Can I talk to you? And you won't be upset with me?" she asked.

I immediately put everything I was doing down and sat down on the bed by her feet.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" I asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, gripping my hand tight.

"Whatever for, _tesoro_?"

"I want to go home. I don't wanna be here, and that's horrible. I should just be thankful I'm safe, but I'm not. I just wish I could go back and stop myself from asking to go outside!" she cried as I moved closer. She threw her arms around me and buried her face in my chest.

"We've talked about blame, darling. No one is to blame. You said that yourself."

"I just don't want you to blame yourself, because it really wasn't your fault. But it is my fault. I was selfish, wanting to play outside. If we had stayed inside, everything would be different," she sobbed.

"That's completely untrue. In fact, if we had been in the house when she attacked, you could have been killed easier. There would have been more objects in her path that would have hurt you. Flying glass and drywall, for one. I might not have been able to keep her away from you as long as I had. It was better we were outside. She would have attacked no matter what. It was a game to her."

She sniffled. "It still is."

"Now, darling, it's about revenge. But we have the upper hand in this. When the time comes, we'll kill them both. They can't surprise us with Alice. She'll see what they have planned and we'll be ready."

"They want you dead. You've said that, but what you haven't said, is that they want me dead. I know they do. You've been lying to me. Why are you lying to me?"

It took me a moment to gather my thoughts. I didn't know how she knew she was also a target. I guess it wasn't hard to figure out, seeing as how she was our main concern through this.

"I didn't want you to worry," I said softly.

"It worried me more that you didn't tell me. I can handle the truth, and I want it."

"The female plans on making me watch you die, and then she'll kill me. She hasn't worked out how or when, but her mate will help her. I don't think they realize what they're going against. It's honestly an easy victory for us."

"I'm so sorry. I can't apologize enough. You should have let her kill me!" she sobbed as I wrapped her in my arms.

"Never," I whispered as Esme appeared in the doorway. She joined me, rubbing Cole's back as she sobbed.

"Alice said we needed to come back," Esme whispered.

After letting Cole cry for a good while, I pulled her back, so she was looking at my face. She looked ashamed of what she said. Part of me thought she should be. But, of course, a larger part couldn't be upset with her. This, though… needed to be said.

"Did you want to die?" I asked, silently praying for the right answer.

"Of course not," she gasped as Esme and I both sighed in relief.

"Then never, ever say she should have killed you. This entire family loves you more than you'll ever know. You almost died a few days ago. My heart was broken as I watched you being rushed to surgery — not knowing what would happen. I'll never be able to express what I went through, what Esme went through in those unknown hours. Our child was dying, and we could nothing to stop it."

My heart broke once more, reliving that horrible experience.

"Cole, you mean the world to us," Esme said. "Every time you say you wish she would have killed you, it hurts us. Your life means so much to us, dear."

Esme wrapped her arms around Cole, holding her tight as she cried. I gently touched Cole's hand and she wrapped it in mine tightly. I don't know if she would ever understand what she was to us. I could only hope she so. She was our daughter. Maybe not in blood, but that didn't matter to me — it didn't matter to Esme. We loved her as if she were our own, as if it were our blood flowing through her veins. And that's what mattered.

After a short nap, Cole was doing better. Maybe she just needed to hear us tell her how much she meant. But I was certain this wouldn't be the last time she blamed herself. I couldn't exactly say much, though. After all, I still tried to put the blame on myself. As Esme said, we were a lot alike. Maybe that was why Cole fit so well with us. After her nap, Alice decided it was time to have a nice chat with Cole about clothing. Esme and I left them alone, but every once in a while, I'd hear some "ooh's" or "ahh's" about some shirt or shoes. I couldn't even begin to explain their love of purses. I was certain Alice and Cole would get along well, of course, they would. Alice loved fashion and Cole loved learning about it. They had already planned a trip to fashion week in every major city. Cole had no idea what she was in for.

"So, pops, what's the plan?" Emmett asked.

"Plan about what?"

"The two vampires trying to kill you and Cole."

"They won't stop. Eventually, they'll find us, so we'll have to kill them. I don't think we should wait for them to come to us."

"No, we shouldn't," Jasper said. "From what you told me, the female is an experienced fighter, which leads me to believe the male is as well. I never got the chance to pick up the females scent, but I didn't recognize the male, so I doubt they were in the Southern Wars — which means they learned to fight elsewhere. Could they have relations with the Volturi?"

"She didn't seem to have a power, so my guess is no. Aro wouldn't train a vampire to fight unless he saw value in them. I can call him and put out some feelers, but I worry he'll want to know why. I can't tell him of Cole, so he would get suspicious as to why two vampires attacked and are now going for revenge."

"It's best not to involve the Volturi at all then. If you ask me, we all need to learn to fight," Jasper said.

"Could you train us?"

"Of course, but fighting an experienced vampire is different than a newborn. My skills may not be as helpful, but since we would do it in teams of three, it really shouldn't be too hard to kill them."

"So, we'll go to them. When?" Emmett asked.

"After we leave the island. We can't stay here permanently anyway. I want Cole to have as normal of a life as possible, which means getting her back in school."

"How long do you want to stay here?" Jasper asked.

"Until summer. It'll give Cole a chance to recover. After we move, Alice will tell us where to find the vampires. We'll take care of them and life can go back to how it was."

"I think you should talk to Cole about turning. Just in case this plan doesn't work out. If something was to happen and you couldn't save her as a human, you should know if you can save her as a vampire," Jasper said.

I truly didn't want to even think about that, but what if something did happen? What if Cole had been too far gone when the female attacked? Would she want to be a vampire? Would I have changed her without her permission like I did with everyone else? Yes, I would have, because I honestly, didn't know if Esme or I could survive Cole's death. Esme had lost one child before. I couldn't let her lose another, not when we have the power to save her. Was that selfish? Of course. I had been selfish when I changed Esme. I didn't want to lose her even if we had only spoken once, ten years before. And I most certainly would not lose Cole.

"I will," I said.

My only worry was if Cole didn't want to be a vampire. Even if she grew old, and had a long and happy life, it would kill Esme and I to lose her. We hadn't really thought of the idea of losing Cole, but her mortality had always been staring us in the face. She was like a porcelain doll. We could protect her all we wanted, but eventually, someday, she would slip from our grip and break. and even I wouldn't be able to put her back together. As long as she was porcelain — human — she would break one day.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	27. Chapter 27

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

When Carlisle told me he was going to start to lower my pain medicine dose, I was happy. I figured good, I won't be sleeping for close to eighteen hours a day. Dear God, was I wrong. It was horrible. I couldn't even breathe without pain, let alone move the slightest inch. I get that the dose had to be lowered, I understand completely, but try sitting on a toilet with a fractured pelvis. It hurt like hell and the dose I'm getting now barely dulls the pain. Especially in my chest, every time Carlisle made me cough or breath deep. I just wanted to cry, but knowing Carlisle, he'd feel bad, so I stifled the tears and settle with sitting in silence — mentally trying to force the pain away. It wasn't working… at all.

"I made you some chicken noodle soup!" Esme announced as she came in my room with a tray holding a bowl, spoon, napkin, and small glass of soda.

I want to smile at the soda. Of course, Esme would give me the one thing she knew I loved — Cherry Pepsi — but I couldn't form a smile as she folded out the legs on the tray and sat it over my lap. Don't get me wrong, the soup probably tasted amazing. Everything Esme made tasted amazing, but all my head could think was how moving to eat it would hurt.

"I'm not hungry, but thank you," I said softly, keeping my tone as even as possible.

My stomach had a different idea and decided to choose that exact moment to make its presence known to my mom.

"You sound hungry. Maybe try a few spoonfuls? Please?" she asked.

"Where's Carlisle?"

"He needed to hunt. Did you need him? Is something wrong? I can get him back."

She was about to grab the cell phone on my end table. I moved my hand to stop her, but gasped in pain from my ribs.

"Don't call him. I just… hurt. I don't want him to know," I said, taking even breathes to soothe my aching side.

"If you're in pain, he needs to know, so he can help you, honey," she said. looking at me with those warm, loving, caring eyes.

"I can't have any more pain medicine for at least another hour. There's nothing he can do but feel bad."

She seemed to pause and think for a moment before smiling down at me.

"You don't want to eat because moving your arms would hurt. Am I right?" I nodded yes. "What if I help you?"

"Short of hand feeding me, how?"

She smiled. "Well, by hand feeding you."

"I'm not two."

"I know that, but sometimes… we all need a little help. Let me help, sweetie. Please?"

"If Emmett makes one choo-choo or airplane joke, someone needs to hit him."

She laughed lightly. "I'll do it myself," she promised.

I thought about it for about five seconds before the delicious smell wafted towards my nose. I wanted that soup, badly, so I agreed and she sat down beside me. She lifted the spoon, blowing on it lightly, before putting it up to my mouth. A few spoonfuls in, I noticed her smile growing.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just nice to be able to do something for you. It makes me think about all the times I should have done this when you were little. I just wish I had that chance, is all."

"I wish I had that chance too. My mommy feeding me." I giggled softly, taking another bite — this time with the amazing fresh chicken.

"You know, I never envied vampires with special abilities, but now I do. If I could choose an ability, it'd be to go back in time and give you the childhood you so dearly deserved," she said as her smile faltered a little.

"I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't?"

I shook my head. "Things happen the way they do for a reason. I wouldn't be me if I didn't go through all of that. My life would have been much easier, but I wouldn't have the same appreciation for the small things. Like this for example," I said, taking the spoon back into my mouth.

"Better late than never, hmm?" she mused.

"I don't think this will be the last time I need you to help me."

"Is it wrong of me to hope it's not?"

I smiled. "As long as it's not wrong of me, either.

She laughed putting the spoon out for me once more. "Good. So, it's not wrong of us."

I was able to eat it all with her help. She even got a straw and held the glass for me while I sipped on the soda. Esme was by far the best mother in the world. If anyone wanted to challenge me on that, they were insane. Completely out of their minds insane, and would lose that challenge.

I felt better after actually eating. I was definitely in pain still, but overall, I didn't want to cry anymore. I actually wanted to get out of bed. I was so tired of seeing this room, so I asked Esme if I could maybe spend some time in the living room, where everyone else was. She agreed and moved all my pillows to the living room, before coming back to carry me to the oversized chair by the TV. Emmett and Rose were curled up on the couch together, while Josh read a book on the loveseat across from me. Alice and Jasper were with Carlisle, so it was just us five. Esme had me cushioned and propped up nicely on the chair with her. I snuggled into her side as we watched an old movie. I think I was more comfortable in here with her than in that bed.

"Cough," Josh said as he looked up from his book.

As I did, Esme rubbed my back, gently soothing some of the pain associated with the dreaded reflex my body refused to do on its own. It still hurt, but like everything else, less because of her. Because of my mom.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	28. Chapter 28

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

"_Tesoro_? Would you wake up for me?" I heard Carlisle ask as his hand touched my cheek.

I opened my eyes and found I was still in the living room on the oversized chair, but Esme wasn't next to me anymore.

"Hmm?" I groaned, moving a little as the pain flared up from my side and tummy. "Ow."

"I know, darling. It's time for your medicines."

Two weeks we've been on the island, two weeks since everything changed and my family was put in danger. I looked to Carlisle who was kneeling beside the chair with a bunch of pills in one hand and a glass stretched out to me in the other. I held my hand out and he gave me a few pills first. I took them and he gave me the rest. Why I needed to take so many pills, I didn't know. He said one was for pain, one for swelling, two were antibiotics, and the others regulated something in my blood — iron pills and God knows what else. I had shots yesterday, vaccines and boosters for everything under the sun.

"Esme said you were in quite a bit of pain earlier. That you couldn't even lift your arms to eat. Sweetie, when it gets that bad, I need to know, so I can adjust the type and dosage. I actually switched you from one medication to another as well as raising your anti-inflammatory some. If we can bring the swelling down, the pain medication will work better. Please, don't hide your pain from me. All right?"

"Okay, I just didn't want to bother you or anything."

He kissed my forehead and chuckled lightly before standing up. "You never bother me — ever."

"I don't really want to go back to bed. Can I stay in here?"

"Well, it's getting late — a little after nine — but if you want, you can stay in here. Did you want to watch another movie?"

"No, I just don't want to see that room right now." I smirked.

"That's fine. Are you tired?"

"No, I just woke up from a…" I looked to the clock. "a four hour nap."

I looked up to him. I noticed he looked a little… depressed, maybe? He wasn't smiling like normal, but he wasn't really frowning either. he just looked expressionless, which meant he wanted to say something and was worried about how I would take it.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Are you up to talking a little?" he asked as Esme reappeared next to him.

Okay, something was going on. Something serious.

"Yeah, of course. Is something wrong?" I asked as he sat down by my feet on the ottoman. Esme slid down next to me like she was earlier, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Since you've known what we are, have you ever thought about becoming like us?" he asked.

"Me… a vampire?" I asked as he nodded. "Not really, I mean, I'm not opposed to it, but I'm a little young. I would be stuck whatever age I am when I was changed, and I don't want to be a teenager forever."

"So, when your older would you want to become a vampire?"

"I…"

What could I say? It wasn't that I didn't want to be a vampire, but I was just a kid. I don't know what I want in the future.

"I'm only asking in case something was to happen and I couldn't save you using modern medicine. I don't want to take this choice away from you, so I need to know where my limit is. I'm asking if you'd want me to save you at all costs, or if you'd want me to let you go."

"I don't want to die!"

"I understand that, but in place of dying, would you be all right with being turned?"

"I don't wanna be fourteen forever. I don't wanna sixteen or seventeen forever. So right now… no, I don't want to be changed," I whispered feeling absolutely horrible.

I basically told Carlisle to let me die if it came down to it. To let me go in peace, while he and everyone else had to go on without me. I knew he and Esme both saw me as a daughter. I knew when I almost died it hurt them both beyond what words could explain, but what I just said probably hurt them worse than that. Was I being selfish by not wanting to be like them right now?

"All right, then, _tesoro._ I won't change you, at least not now. If anything happened, I would use every medical resource I had to save you, but if those fail, then we'd have to let you go," he said, his tone obviously saddened by what he just said. They'd let me go, they wouldn't change me, so they didn't have to lose me.

"I'm sorry," I mouthed — the words not even coming out audibly to me.

"Don't be sorry for what you just said. If I had the choice, I would have chosen the same, even knowing that my life would be like this. Even knowing I'd find Emmett. So don't be sorry," Rose said from the doorway.

"But I don't want to die and leave you guys."

"It's a hard choice. One you shouldn't have had to make, but don't go back on it for our sake," Esme said, pulling me closer. "Yes, it would be very painful to lose you, but if it's your wish, we can live with it."

"Cole, I've taken that choice away from three people," Carlisle said. "I agonized about whether it was the right choice. You've made the choice for me, and I thank you for telling me the truth. You will not die, though, not without a serious fight from me. We will do everything to keep you safe and uninjured."

He smiled, but it just looked forced. Obviously, I hadn't made the choice he wanted.

"Don't let me ever die. Change me. I don't care how old I am. Change me now," I said as my voice quivered with the bold face lie. This wasn't what I wanted, but after all Carlisle had done for me, I could do this.

"You don't mean that!" Rose yelled. "Carlisle, don't even think about it. She's just saying that to make you happy. It's not what she wants!"

"Rosalie, lower your voice. There is no need to yell. I'm not going to do anything, but I would like it if everyone gave us some privacy," Carlisle said.

Rose huffed. "I'm not leaving!"

"Rosalie Hale, this does not involve you. This is between Esme, Cole, and I." he said — his voice getting stern.

"Remember what she said first," Rose said as she walked away.

Carlisle seemed to take a deep breath before turning back to me. "You don't want to be a vampire right now, maybe not ever. So, I want to know why you just changed your mind."

"I do want to be a vampire. I don't wanna die and being a vampire would ensure that," I told him as my fingers picked at the blanket covering me.

"That's not why you suddenly, within minutes, changed your mind."

"What do you want me to do?"

"That doesn't matter. It's what you want."

"I would be okay with being a vampire. It wouldn't be my first choice, not right now, at least. But if it's between dying and being a vampire, I'd want to be a vampire. I really don't want to die. If my options were dying or being fourteen forever… I'd choose to be fourteen."

"You know what… This isn't something you can just decide. It was wrong of me to expect a truthful, well thought out answer right away. I want you to take your time before you decide, and if your decision is to not be a vampire, Esme and I will not hold that against you. This isn't something you chose for someone else. You need to make the best choice for yourself, not for us."

"I don't wanna hurt you guys," I whispered as my lip quivered.

I tried fighting the tears, but as always, they won and my eyes clouded over — blurring from the liquid.

**Late March… six weeks later**

"Just take another step towards me. You can do it," Carlisle encouraged as Josh stood next to me.

My hands held two grab bars tight. I was trying to walk again. Carlisle had started this "physical therapy" a few weeks ago. So far, I had been able to take a few more steps every day since I started. Right now. I was working on twenty feet. It wasn't easy, but every day it got easier. I put my right sock covered foot out, and then moved the left — loosening my grip on the bars as I watched the tape measurer beside me. I ended up just over the twenty foot line.

"I did it. I did it!" I gasped, letting go of the bar to wrap my arms around Carlisle's neck. He lifted me up as he hugged me.

"You did. You did so great, _tesoro_," he praised, kissing my temple as he placed my feet back on the floor.

He held me up as we walked over to the chair. It was easy to walk when someone held me up. I basically put no pressure on my legs.

"How do you feel? Any pain?" he asked after sitting me down.

I smiled. "I'm good. I feel great."

"All right, then, I think we can be done for today. After all, I have a hot date tonight." He laughed.

He and Esme were going to Rio for the weekend — just the two of them. I couldn't have been more excited for them. They needed some time alone without worrying about me. It would be good, and of course, the fact that Carlisle wouldn't be breathing down my neck with concern was great.

"I saw her new dress. I think you'll be happy," I teased as Josh laughed, putting away the grab bars.

We were on the patio outside. The warm breeze felt great, and I could easily see the beach. I was so going to go swimming tonight. I could convince Emmett and Rose, who were staying to watch me. After all, Emmett would want to swim as well. The best thing about Emmett was he was like a huge child. He'd let me do anything as long as it would be fun for him as well. Not only would it be fun for him, but Rose would be in a bikini, so of course he wouldn't turn that down.

"She could wear a burlap sack and I'd be happy. Now, are you sure you'll be all right without us?" Carlisle asked.

"Josh will be here, so will Emmett and Rose. Alice and Jasper will be all of a minute away on the other side of the island. I will be fine. I promise."

"If you need us, we can swim back in minutes." H

"I'll be fine, daddy."

About an hour later, I was sitting in the living room with a book as Carlisle and Esme came down from the loft with one small bag that Carlisle carried. Esme looked amazing in a knee-length, purple, silk ,cocktail dress. It was strapless and the material was so light and "sweeping" looking. It fit her perfectly. The dress didn't have any flashy beading or anything to it. It was simple; it was Esme. Her caramel hair was down, resting just past her shoulders with a small silver clip holding her bangs back.

Carlisle stood beside her in a tuxedo, very James Bond looking, dashing with the smooth black material. They looked perfect together. Really, they looked like a couple that should be on the red carpet of some Hollywood award show — named best dressed.

"You guys look amazing. Absolutely great," I told them as Esme smiled and came over, bending down to kiss my cheek. Carlisle followed and kissed my forehead.

"Thank you, honey. Now. are sure you're going to be okay?" Esme asked

Just as I was about to respond, Emmett and Rose came in — saving me from once again trying to convince them I'd be okay. Josh sat on the couch. He wasn't any help, so I was very thankful to Rose and Em.

"We won't let her out of our sight. She'll be in bed every night by seven, with no sugar after her bath." Emmett snickered.

"Once again, Emmett, I am not a child."

"No you're a big girl now," Josh snickered.

I threw the couch pillow at him. Rose reached over and caught it just in time. It would have been the best shot in the world — right in the face.

"Josh knows her medication schedule. Emmett and I won't be far at any time. She'll be fine with us. She has to call you before she goes to bed and when she wakes up — no excuses. No letting her walk without support, no scary movies, and though she doesn't have a bedtime, she should go to sleep by a decent time," Rose said. "Oh, and she can't touch a knife, so no cooking on her own," she added, getting a look of approval from Carlisle.

"Okay then, call us if you have any problems. Cole, if you just want to call us, that's fine. We'll always answer," Carlisle said.

"I know."

"And I already know you guys are going swimming tonight." He said with a smirk. Damn Alice. "That's fine, just be careful. Remember, you don't have full use of your legs, so stay in the shallow area."

He bent down, so I could hug him goodbye before doing the same with Esme. After a twenty minute goodbye, they finally left for the small boat on the docks.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

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	29. Chapter 29

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Unknown POV**

"He is the Stregoni Benefici legend — kind hearted. Our natural enemy. He protects human life, preferring to kill his own kind in favor of humans. He must be stopped. Your mate is at risk, the ones you love. He will kill them if you do not stand with me to destroy him and his "followers". We'll never be safe to feed while his kind exist. These vampires, if you can call them that, are an abomination to what we are.

"We are powerful. It's our right to take what we want and he will not stand in the way. So I am asking you to help me, so we can feed without risk of being killed," I said to the seven vampires in front of me.

It was a lie. Of course, it was a lie, but they didn't know that. Cullen will pay for what he did to my Kara. That human of his will die a painful death at my hands.

"We've never been at risk before. If we were, the Volturi would handle it," Mary said.

"He's making his move now — ridding the world of us. He tried to kill my Kara. He ripped her apart before I could intervene. His followers are doing the same all around the world," I said.

"This sounds like revenge to me. He tore your weak mate apart, so you want him dead," Randall said.

"I agree. You know you can't kill him on your own, so you're asking for our help by making us think we're at risk. It was silly of us to come. We will be leaving now," Peter said, taking the hand of Charlotte as he turned away.

Mary and Randall followed, leaving Garrett, James, and Victoria. I just needed one of them. One that would fight with Kara and I.

"I won't be involved in this; it's none of my concern," Garrett said, taking his leave.

"I like a good fight. Even if what you say is a lie, I'll still come as long as you do, James," Victoria said, smirking to her mate.

"Is there a tasty human with them?" James asked.

"As long as you make her death painful, she's all yours," I said.

"Great, Where are they?" he asked as I smirked.

I had two now. We could easily kill the leader, his mate, and the two with him. The leader would be mine and I would make certain he watched as his precious human died in James' hands. Kara wanted the mate. Killing her would hurt him greatly, giving her a little satisfaction and revenge. James and Victoria shouldn't have much trouble with the burly man and beautiful blonde. She would be easy, but the burly one might have some fight in him. Oh well, as long as they were all dead in the end, it wasn't like I cared. I'd actually prefer James to be killed by the burly one. Then I could enjoy the little human with Kara. It was after all supposed to be her meal. I'd share.

"That's a good question. I know they're somewhere in South America, but their exact location is unknown to me. You might be able to help. You're a tracker, yes?" I asked.

James as he nodded. "A nice hunt will be fun. I just need a scent and I'll know exactly where they are."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	30. Chapter 30

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Translations: **

Questo mondo non lo saprà mai l'amore che porto per te, la mia bellezza: This world will never know the love I carry for you, my beauty.

Nessuna parola potrebbe mai spiegare: No words could ever explain it.

Siete incredibili, Carlisle. La scorsa notte ... non ci sono parole: You are amazing, Carlisle. Last night... there are no words.

Ho perso questom amore. Solo noi, non preoccuparti: I have missed this love. Just us, no worries

**Carlisle's POV**

My weekend with Esme was amazing, relaxing, and perfect. We danced in the hotel ballroom before going up to our private, honeymoon suite. I worshiped her like she deserved, giving my all to the amazing woman that I held in my arms. While we both certainly missed Cole and the family, the alone time was brilliant. We held each other and made love to each other over and over well into the morning light. We both needed it. We needed the release; to just let passion wash over us. When the sun rose, the light trickled in through the closed blinds. At one point, a single ray of sun hit the small of her back causing her gorgeous glow to ignite. She shown like diamonds, glistening beautifully as I opened the blinds a little to let more light in. She was breathtakingly gorgeous as I moved her wavy caramel locks to kiss each of her shoulder blades.

"_Questo mondo non lo saprà mai l'amore che porto per te, la mia bellezza_," I murmured into her skin. "_Nessuna parola potrebbe mai spiegare._" I moved my lips over her body.

"_Siete incredibilim Carlisle. La scorsa notte ... non ci sono parole_," she whispered.

"_Ho perso questo, amore. Solo noi, non preoccuparti_."

"I miss her, Carlisle," she said, turning over to touch my face. How alike we were.

"Me too. Shall we call her?"

Her lips curved into a smile. I reached over to the end table and picked up the small cell phone. I dialed Cole's number; it rang and rang until Rose picked up.

"She's still asleep," she said.

"Still?"

I looked at the clock. It was just after ten in the morning. Normally, Cole was awake by nine.

"She was up late, but she had fun."

"What did you all do?"

"Swam, watched a movie, watched Emmett eat human food, watched Emmett throw up said human food, laughed."

"Why did Emmett eat human food?" I asked as Esme covered her mouth to stop the chuckles.

"Cole and Josh got into some competition about who could catch popcorn in their mouth farther. Emmett wanted in. After that, Cole had him try just about everything, which of course he did, as she took pictures of his facial expressions. We had a good time, Carlisle. I promise she had fun."

"Sounds like it. What time did she go to bed?" I asked.

"After one. I'm sure she'll be up soon. But wasn't she supposed to call you?"

We had been caught. "Uh, it was just getting late, and we hadn't heard from her," I lied.

"Yeah, right. I'll have her call you right when she wakes up. Goodbye, Carlisle." She laughed as the line went dead.

"Carlisle, can we go home?" Esme asked me as I sat the phone down.

"Please."

We both leaped from the bed. Leaving Cole was painful for both of us. The only thing I could relate it to was leaving an infant shortly after their birth. Though we wanted alone time, we wanted to be home more. Just our hunting trips had been hard, but at least then we had something to focus on — being fed. This trip was solely a getaway. A getaway we clearly did not want or need for longer than one night.

The only difficult part about going back to the island in the middle of the day, was having to cover up. We wore long sleeve shirts, pants, gloves, hats, and sunglasses. It probably looked quite odd, us being bundled up as if it were cold, but it was the only way. Cole had seen all of us in the sun. As had Josh, so that wasn't a problem. Neither of them actually mentioned it anymore. As if it were normal that our skin looked like crushed diamonds when direct sunlight hit us. Cole had said she was just thankful we didn't burn in the sun as it would have been, and I'm quoting her, "a serious bummer" if we couldn't be out during the day.

As I picked up our discarded clothing from last night, I quickly realized we wouldn't need to bring it home. My tuxedo shirt had been torn, and the slit up the leg on Esme dress now reached the bust line. I just tossed them in the trashcan. Last night had been very, very fun, but we only needed one night, not two like we planned.

"Come on lets go," Esme said as I picked up the cell phone and slid it in my pocket. Right as I did, it rang.

"Cole must be up." I smiled as I accepted the call.

"You guys need to come home now." Was the first thing I heard. It was Alice's voice.

"What happened?" I asked, preparing myself for learning something had happened to Cole. She was injured or possibly worse. What could have happened in all of ten minutes?

"They're coming. Soon," she said.

It clicked right away. The vampires that had attacked Cole had found where we were, and they were coming to kill her.

"When?" I asked.

"They'll be here in two days and they won't be alone. Two more are with them. I think one might have an ability. He seemed so familiar, like I've met him."

"We're leaving the hotel now. This is it, isn't it? We can't run again."

"No, they'll just follow. We have to fight now."

"All right, we'll be there within the hour. Does Cole know?"

"No, she's still asleep."

"Don't tell her yet," I said as I hung up the phone.

"Four? Four experienced vampires? Carlisle, what if we can't fight them without someone getting hurt?" Esme asked as we got on the boat.

The hotel was only up the road from the dock, so it didn't take long. The boat ride itself would take a good twenty minutes.

"No one will get hurt. There's six of us. With Emmett's strength and Jasper's skills, they shouldn't have a problem taking one each, which will leave two for you, me, Alice, and Rose to handle. We'll work in teams. If we need him to, Jasper can change their emotions — make them easier. We can do this," I said, starting the engine and speeding off.

We could do this. Cole would be fine. I would protect her this time.

As we speed toward the island, my mind went over every possibility it could. If we kept Cole and Josh in the house with Esme protecting them, they would be safe. Alice could tell us exactly which direction the vampires would come from, and we'd be waiting. The other option was not hiding Cole and Josh — using them to distract the vampires. It would be risky. If one of the vampires slipped past us, they would both be open to an attack. I had to keep in the back of my mind that Cole and I were the real targets. They would either go after us first, or very last. Esme could also be a huge target, as well. It was obvious she was my mate, and the male might see hurting her as a way to really hurt me. As the dock came into view, Jasper stood there waiting for us. I threw him the rope and he tied it to the dock as Esme and I came off the boat.

"Jasper," I greeted.

"We need to talk — privately," he said.

Esme looked to me with a nod. "I'm going to go check on Cole. I love you," she said before a quick kiss, and then she took off towards the house.

"What's going on?" I asked once Esme was out of sight.

"I just got off the phone with Peter, my nomadic friend. It seems this male, William, is rounding up vampires to help fight. He's trying to convince people that you are a threat. That our way of life is a threat. That we kill our own kind in favor of humans. That we're stopping vampires from hunting humans — by killing them. Peter knew it was a lie, as did most of the vampires he talked to, but two stayed with William. Peter knows a little about the two that stayed. Their names are James and Victoria. They're mated and they both have abilities."

"What kind of abilities are we talking about? Anything that would make this fight harder?"

"James is a tracker, a very good one. With just a scent, he automatically knows where his target is. That's how they know where we are, and that's why there's no use in hiding. Obviously, that won't help in a fight, but Victoria's might. She can escape anything. Self-preservation, if you will. She'll be able to escape and avoid our hits easily. My point is, Victoria will escape, but if we kill James, she won't know what to do. She'll be vengeful and stupid. making it easier to kill her. I say we take James out first followed by the others. Since Kara is an experienced fighter, I should handle her. Emmett, with his strength should take out James, and then you can take William. The girls can handle Victoria. Hopefully, once James dies, she'll be lost. He created her, he's her mate, and she just won't be in the fighting frame of mind."

"Where should Cole and Josh be?"

"You won't like it."

"You want her visible. Vulnerable?"

"They'll want her. She smells very good, as you know, so it could be a distraction. I think if we have Esme protecting her, then she won't be at risk. We'll all keep an eye on her, and if someone makes an attempt to kill her, we'll stop them."

"It's dangerous, but I see your point. The distraction may make things easier."

"We'll also have the upper hand because they don't know Alice and I are here. Alice saw William talking with James and Victoria. They think it will be four against four. With our side weaker since we're defending a human. Josh may be useful, as well. Another distraction."

"I'd rather not use either of them for a distraction, and it's up to them. If they don't want to, we're not making them."

"Sounds good to me. Cole is up and eating, so we should probably go talk. We only have two days and everyone needs a little training."

"I agree," I said as we walked towards the house.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	31. Chapter 31

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

Carlisle and Esme came home early, very early. I felt a little bad for being so happy they were home. I had missed them terribly last night and this morning when I woke up alone. Maybe I had become too attached, but I mean, they were my parents. Every kid loved and missed their parents, especially if they were as attached as I was. I still needed someone to be with me while I slept, not that it helped my nightmares much, but at least someone was there to comfort me when I woke up. And I knew they were right there to protect me from anything.

Since we've been on the island, I normally sleep in-between both of them, resting my head on Carlisle's stomach with Esme's hand on my back. That was how I liked to sleep, just plop a pillow on Carlisle and I was comfortable. It was kinda funny that I like sleeping on a rock. I must have giggled a little, because Esme looked up to me with a smirk.

"What's so funny, darling?" she asked.

"I just realized I like sleeping on a rock," I said, getting a confused look from her.

"You know how I normally sleep with a pillow on Carlisle stomach? Even with a pillow, it's still pretty hard."

"Like a rock," she agreed as her eyes turned to the door. Carlisle and Jasper walked in.

"Daddy!" I said, turning on the bar stool, completely disregarding the cereal in front of me.

By the time my arms were out for a hug, he had me wrapped in his. He picked me up off the stole, so I could wrap my legs around him as we hugged. His face was buried in the bun of hair on top of my head — his lips kissing my forehead. I expected him to pull way quicker, but he didn't. He just held me tight — almost a little too tight.

"I missed you guys," I mumbled into his chest.

"Oh, I missed you too, _tesoro_. So much, in fact, that we couldn't stay away another night," he said with his lips still hovering over my forehead. "We need to talk, baby girl."

He placed me back on the stool and my legs fell from his waist.

"What's up?" I asked, kinda confused. Esme took my left hand and Carlisle took my right.

Something serious was going on. Carlisle's lips held a small smile — a sad one that didn't reach his eyes.

"In two days," he took a deep breath, "the bad vampires will be here, but don't worry. We'll take care of them. Alice can see what's planned and we'll be ready."

"They found us? How?"

"They have two others with them. One with an ability. He's what we call a tracker. He can find anyone with just a scent — automatically knowing their location. But, please, _tesoro, _do not worry. we have a plan. Everything will be fine. You're not going to be hurt again."

I knew this was coming. I knew they were coming, but two more? Now it was four to six. What if someone gets hurt. What if Josh got hurt?

I don't know how long I just sat there for, staring at the marble counter top, blinking every so often as so many thoughts rushed through my mind. I was worried, not for myself, but for everyone else. I had talked to Jasper about a week ago. He made it very clear two vampires were not going to be hard to kill, but we hadn't talked about the possibility of more.

He told me about his early years. He was second in command of a newborn army, and he trained the newborns to fight. He even showed me the "battle scars", as he called them. I asked him if it hurt, to be bitten even as a vampire. He said it stung, but it wasn't as bad as being turned. That was excruciating. He said it wouldn't stop him from fighting. It actually angered him to be bitten, making him fight harder — kill quicker. He related it to being hit in face if you were human. Some people stopped fighting after a good blow, but other's just hit back harder.

I remembered the first few times Mark hit me. I fought back at first because I wouldn't go down without a fight, but after being hurt so many times, I learned that fighting back wouldn't help; it just hurt more. Mark was stronger and bigger than me. It was better to just let him do what he wanted because I knew, eventually the pain would stop. But now, that wasn't the case. This wasn't just about hurting someone. It was about killing. My family would have to fight to the death — literally. This threat wouldn't stop until these vampires were dead or until my family was dead. And my family was not going to die. So, my family would fight. They would kill these vampires. I couldn't doubt that. I couldn't even consider the thought of us losing, because it just wasn't a reality I would accept. It wasn't a reality any of us would accept.

"I'm not worried. I know this will turn out okay," I whispered.

"Did she seriously just say that? She isn't freaking out?" Emmett asked.

"She knows we'll win. Physically we'll have just about the same strength as them, but we have something else — something they don't have," Jasper said as we all turned our attention to him. "We're a family. Our love is our strength, as well. And this family has more love, which means we're stronger. We won't lose."

"No, we won't. We can do this. Right, Cole?" Carlisle asked me with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, we can."

Jasper was right. Our greatest strength was the fact that we were a family. The love that binds us, will keep us strong.

The next day Josh and I, sat on the patio as we watched the quick blurs of the family training. Jasper and Carlisle were sparing right now. Every time Carlisle made the wrong move, Jasper would just throw him down, tell him what he did wrong, and what he needed to do instead. Carlisle just stood up, dusted the sand off his jeans, and tried again. It was a little odd watching Carlisle not be the leader, watching him learn. But he learned quickly, until Jasper and him spared without Jasper taking him down once. Carlisle actually took Jasper down. The mighty God of War was in the sand with a smile.

"Good! Now you and Emmett," Jasper said.

My eyes flickered from Emmett and Carlisle fighting, to Jasper teaching Esme. My mother was one hell of a woman. She took Jasper down on the first try. Her teeth were literally centimeters from his neck. She had been watching Jasper and Carlisle, watching every mistake Carlisle made, so that she didn't. At one point, Jasper decided to egg her on by saying something about me, something about my blood. I think that time her teeth actually scraped him.

**Esme's POV**

"Esme," Jasper whispered just before I sank my teeth in his neck.

He pulled me back to reality. I knew this was just him training me, using what he thought would be my weakness to distract me. But the second he said how sweet Cole would taste, something clicked in my mind and all I could think about was protecting Cole. Destroying the threat to her.

"Holy shit! Momma Bear about killed Jasper!" Emmett yelled as I stood up and wiped off the sand.

"Don't mess with my cub," I said.

It was simple, this mother would enrage easily if her child was brought into the fight — like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

"I think it might be best if no one says anything about Cole. It seems what I assumed would be a weakness, is in reality a strength. I think Esme might be better fighting instead of guarding Cole and Josh," Jasper told everyone.

"But if Cole and Josh are to be seen, someone has to guard them," Carlisle said as he and Emmett came over.

We all were taking a much needed break, so we sat around Cole and Josh on the patio. It wasn't that we were tired. We certainly were not, but the intensity needed to mellowed out for a little while.

"What if I do?" Rose asked, looking to Carlisle. "Obviously, Jasper, Emmett, you, and Esme are the best fighters. Alice can help where needed, and I'll guard Cole and Josh."

"I think that's actually a good idea," Jasper said. "Esme will be most useful fighting. After all, I'm almost positive these vampires will try to bait us using Cole. Esme hears something and a head will roll."

Jasper smirked, grazing his finger over the slight line on his neck. My teeth grazed him. Alice kissed his neck with a quick peck.

"Sounds like our plan is forming into an actual strategy. How do you see that working out, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

We all watched Alice's eyes blur out of focus before her blinking rapidly.

"I can't really see. I see Esme killing William quickly, but I just can't see an outcome," she said.

Unfortunately, that was how it had been. She hadn't been able to see an outcome. Probably because of all the variables, but she can see certain events, and apparently, I would be killing William now. Before it was Emmett killing him. The future changes with each decision we concrete.

"He's gonna piss her off." Emmett laughed before whispering, "Ain't gonna make that mistake."

"Wise choice, Emmett," I told him.

"Okay, so right now, exactly what time will they arrive?" Carlisle asked Alice.

"It's dark out." She closed her eyes, picturing the vision. "From the moon's location, I'd say around three, maybe four in the morning. Not tonight — tomorrow night."

"So we have thirty-six hours. We'll train today and tonight, and then tomorrow we'll all need to hunt. Large game — carnivores — which would give us the most strength," Carlisle said.

Emmett smirked. "I love me some wild pussies." Rose smacked him. "I mean large cats — cougars and jaguars," he corrected as Cole snorted, laughing. Only Emmett would be making Cole laugh her behind off at a time like this.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	32. Chapter 32

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

The house was unusually quiet. Everyone but Carlisle had gone hunting. Carlisle was staying, just in case. He would go hunt once Esme came back. I heard him and Josh talking quietly in the kitchen as I sat in the living room in the oversized chair. The TV was muted, so I could hear their conversation perfectly, considering the kitchen was just feet away — a half wall separating the two rooms.

"The operating room is stocked and ready. Three sterile gowns are laid out by the sink, along with gloves. I have plenty of AB and O negative ready to be transfused. You're O negative, correct?" Carlisle asked Josh.

"Yeah, but if Cole's hurt at all, change me and save her," Josh said.

I did a double take, what did he just say?

"If I can save your life, I will, but I know your choice, which helps considerably."

"She still hasn't decided?" Josh asked, much quieter — his voice a whisper that I barely heard. I heard Carlisle, but couldn't make out his words.

"You know where all the supplies are. If she needs sutures and Jasper or I can't do it, you can. Right?" Carlisle asked. Now he was talking a little louder. Still hushed, but he knew I could hear.

"Yeah, if I'm not sure it needs stitches, stitch it. I know, Carlisle. Don't take any chances."

"This is the cell phone number of a man named Peter. He's a vampire and he does drink human blood. Jasper has already spoken with him, and if something happens to us, you call him right away. He's agreed to protect you and Cole. He'll set you up with new identities."

"What's the likely hood of us getting away if all of you are destroyed?"

"Not good. Just get off the island with her and call Peter."

I wasn't going to let him talk like that — plan for his death. So, I stood up and hobbled towards the kitchen.

"Stop it!" I yelled at Carlisle as I held the wall. He quickly met me and picked me up, so I didn't fall. "Please don't talk like that!" I begged as he set me back down on the chair.

I held his cotton shirt tight in my hands — refusing to let him go, so he could plan for his death. I started crying, gasping as he held me, rocking us back and forth to soothe my sobs.

"You're not," gasp, "gonna die!" I sobbed.

"I never said I was. I'm just making sure your taken care of," he said.

"Don't!" I said, taking in a ragged breath. He rubbed my back trying to help calm me down.

"All right, _tesoro_. I won't. Everything is going to be fine. It's all going to be just fine," he murmured in my ear as I continued to gasp for the air I felt I needed.

I still hadn't calmed down after a few minutes and my fingers and lips started to tingle. I knew this feeling. It was a panic attack. The one Emmett was waiting for the other day when they told me what was going on. The one I was so sure I wouldn't have.

"Please," gasp, "daddy," gasp, "I love," gasp, "you!"

"Josh, get me 4mgs Ativan IM. Quickly please." Carlisle asked, pulling me close to his chest, cradling me like an infant as my vision started to blur and my eyelids twitched.

I was still gasping, a lot. I felt myself being turned into Carlisle chest as a warmer hand pulled my loose sweatpants down a touch, before a cold wipe of a cloth went across my upper bottom. Then the warm hand, Josh, pinched my barely able to call fat together and stuck the needle in — releasing the medicine into my muscle. It stung, but it wasn't even pain compared to the pain in my chest and head from hyperventilating. Josh stuck a Band-Aid over the puncture site after quickly removing the needle. he pulled my bottoms back up all the way. A few more minutes passed and my breathing, though still ragged, slowed down to a normal rate.

"That's it, sweets. Let the medicine work," Josh murmured, gently patting my head. He kissed my forehead like Carlisle had been doing.

"Thank you, Josh. She's going to fall asleep, which might be best," Carlisle said —his voice was a little distant, but I knew he was literally talking right next to my ear. I was falling asleep. The medicine, more or less, forced me into a quiet slumber.

**Carlisle's POV**

I had been waiting for this to happen, for Cole to panic like this. Truthfully, we all had. Everyone knew where the Ativan injection was in case it became this bad, which once again, I knew would happen. I had Josh give her 4mgs, so she would fall asleep. I didn't just want to calm her; I wanted her to sleep. She needed the rest. After all, she would be up tonight at two in the morning when this fight started. Nothing would keep her away from that. She'd want to be awake, so she could know what was going on.

"Pulse and BP are returning to normal. How fast was her heart beating?" Josh asked.

"It was getting close to one-seventy."

"Well, it's back down to ninety, so I'm guessing she's sleeping peacefully. But her BP is still around one-twenty over seventy. She normally stays much lower — systolic around ninety, usually less," he said, pulling the cuff from Cole's little arm.

I kept her cradled to me, not wanting to let her go. I felt horrible for causing this. I knew she could hear Josh and I talking, but I wanted her to know the information as well. If we were all destroyed permanently or even most of us temporary, they needed to call Peter. Jasper had spoken with him once more yesterday, and though, Peter wouldn't get involved in the fight, he did agree to protecting Cole, if needed. I could understand why he and Charlotte didn't want to get involved. It wasn't their problem, and they wouldn't risk their lives for a human.

Though I would have appreciated the extra help, we didn't need it, at least not according to Alice. I just worried something would happen and our family would lose. I wanted a plan in place to give Cole and Josh the best chance of survival. Though, if we were all destroyed, I doubted they would get away. I truly envied Cole's faith in us. She was so determined we would win, not even wanting to consider the alternative.

"How long ago did this happen?" Esme asked, appearing in front of me, kneeling as she caressed Cole's cheek.

I had to look at my watch. I hadn't been keeping track of time. "Around one. Two hours ago."

"Let me take her. You need to hunt," she said, standing up, holding her arms out for Cole.

I rested her in Esme's arms as Esme took my seat in the chair. I was a little confused as to why she wasn't dripping wet. I then realized she had changed her clothes, and her hair had dried while running.

"I shouldn't be long. A few hours, at most. If she wakes up, try to get her to go back to sleep. She needs it."

"Okay. Dry clothes are on the dock. If you go just north of Rio and head west, there are plenty of cougars. Jaguars are about two hundred miles further inland. That's where everyone else is."

"Cougars sound fine."

"Of course, they do." She smiled, grabbing a throw pillow to tuck between her arm and Cole's head. With a kiss to both of them, I left.

Four hours and three drained cougars later, I was swimming back to the island. I hated not having a cell phone on me. It left me feeling out of touch and worried. Had Cole woken up? Doubtful, but possible. Had any plans changed? Surely someone would have found me if they had. I had an answer to every question, but that didn't calm my nerves. I needed to get home. One great thing about being a vampire, was not needing to breathe. It made swimming much easier and faster. As I approached the shore, I stopped swimming and walked to the dock to grab the dry clothes, before running into the jungle to change. Alice had set the clothes out. It was obvious. The lightweight black pants and blue cotton t-shirt would stretch and move with me as I fought to save my family. As I fought to save my daughter.

I would be killing another person tonight. If it had been for any other reason, I was certain my compassion wouldn't allow me to. I don't relish the thought of killing, even sadistic beings that threaten my family's life. On one hand, it wasn't in my nature to kill. I was a doctor — a healer. I saved lives, not take them. But on the other hand, it was purely my nature to kill. I was built for it. Everything down to the tone of my voice lures creatures to me, so I can feed from them. It was in a vampire's nature to kill. Our speed and strength make it easy, but I truly did not feel like a vampire. I never had.

I entered this life fully aware of what vampires were, and I fought against instinct to become who I was now. I never wanted to take a life. I wanted to save them. But as I sat there, ten o'clock at night, with my daughter in my arms, I had never been more ready to kill. Because, though I was a vampire, I was also a father. I would do anything to keep this little girl safe. I would be anything. And tonight, for the first time in all my years, I was going to be a vampire and kill to protect her like any father would. I had been given the resources to protect her, and I would use them.

"What are you thinking?" Esme asked as she sat next to me — Cole's legs in her lap.

"About nature."

"What about it?"

"It's human nature to protect those you love, but I'm not human. We aren't human. It's vampire nature to protect what's ours, our food, mate, possessions. I think… if we so chose, we can still follow both human and vampire nature. And if we do, we're stronger than any other vampire on this planet. My human nature tells me to protect Cole. Any way necessary, because I love her. My vampire nature tells me to protect her because she's mine, but she's not mine. I don't own her, so why is my vampire nature telling me to protect her using the only way I can? I think it's because both natures feed each other. I couldn't be vampire without being human, and I wouldn't be human if it weren't for being a vampire."

"What I wouldn't give to spend a few moments in that head of yours. I'd love to know what brought you to think about the subject of nature, vampire or human. But I have a feeling it's sitting in your arms." She giggled.

"She makes me think about a lot things." I chuckled lightly.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	33. Chapter 33

**Edited 8/13/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

Everything was hazy. Like I was in a fog. I hated this feeling — the being drugged feeling. I never wanted to feel it again after my pain medication was lowered a while back. The feeling was so strange. Not good or bad, just nothing, basically. I had yet to open my eyes, but I could tell I was in Carlisle's arms with a pillow under my head — against his chest. I wondered how much time had passed. What time was it, anyway?

"_Tesoro_? Can you open your eyes for me?" Carlisle asked as I moved a little and snuggled closer into his chest on my right side.

My hand fisted into his soft shirt before I finally, slowly, opened my eyes to be met by his bright golden ones. His eyes were normally a light honey color, but now they were really bright gold.

"Your eyes?" I mumbled, not even sure if he could understand what I just said. Hell, I didn't even know if I said what I meant to.

"They're brighter, yes?" he asked as I nodded against his shoulder and chest. He had me tucked right under his arm with a pillow on his chest. Like you would if you were holding a baby. "I fed a great deal today. More than I normally would. All of our eyes will be bright until we return to our normal diet of one or so animals every few days — every few weeks for me."

"Oh, m'kay. What time is it?"

"Almost one in the morning. You've been asleep for close to twelve hours." He smiled.

"What!" I asked — my voice higher than normal.

"You needed it. Trust me; it's for the best. How are you feeling now?"

"Groggy. I think that was too much medicine."

He chuckled. "That's debatable, my darling. Truly, it wasn't as much as I could have given you. You're just so small, lower doses hit you harder than most people."

"How long until they get here?"

"Not long, an hour at least, a few at most. Alice thinks they should be here a little after two, but it might be later. Trying to figure out the time from the position of the moon, during a vision no less, is a little difficult."

"Don't let me die, please? I know we haven't talked about this much, but… daddy, I don't wanna die. I wanna be with you and mom forever. I'd rather be older, but I can be okay with being fourteen forever," I told him, keeping eye contact.

His lips curved up slightly, but like most of his smiles lately, didn't reach his eyes.

"You are going to be fine. We are all going to be fine." I nodded in agreement. "I think we should talk about where you need to be. Are you alert enough for that?"

"Yeah," I said, fighting the yawn. I really was becoming more alert, but I was still pretty tired.

"Josh will be holding you up. You'll be in the tree line with Rose in front, guarding you. Do not move, all right?"

"Not like I can," I scoffed, still feeling the dull ache from my side, right above my hip. I still wasn't healed completely from the fracture. It was healed for the most part, but I still had trouble getting around.

"I know. Even if you feel like you're in danger, don't try to get away. If Rose is disabled and can't protect you any more, someone else will. We'll all be keeping an eye on you. You'll never be left unprotected."

"I know," I told him as I dug my face into his chest. I held him tight, praying this wouldn't be the last time.

**It was time.**

Josh kept an arm around me, holding me upright, as Rose crouched in front of us. Her head was turning in every direction. When I saw her eyes, they were fierce and hard. She held a stone expression as she looked for any danger to us humans. We had been out here for a good twenty minutes. The bad vampires still hadn't come ashore, but I could see, thanks to the lights and full moon, my family in a protective line. Carlisle stood front and center — the obvious leader — with Esme on his left and Jasper on his right next to Emmett. Alice was on Esme's side. They all had clenched fists as they prepared for battle.

The first sign of movement was a flash of red hair, which Alice went after. Next, I saw Esme crouch and jump towards a male — William, I assumed. My entire body tensed when I saw the blonde hair. The she-vamp that tried to kill me. The reason for this fight. Jasper and her stared each other down for a few moments, neither moving. Emmett and Carlisle stood their ground, waiting, but keeping watch. I watched as Alice and the red head, Victoria, circle each other. Victoria was looking for something and I knew Alice was looking out for what she was looking for — staying one step ahead of Victoria. One was missing. Where was James?

Suddenly, a breeze went past me — making me jump a little. Esme had tackled William not but a few feet from us. He was coming after me, but she stopped him. Everything was so quick, but at the same time so slow. Why hadn't anyone been destroyed yet? From what I could, tell my family wasn't losing. None of them were hurt at all, but neither were the others.

"She's going to make a tasty treat," William yelled at Esme, his head nodding towards me.

Esme moved so quickly. I couldn't see what she had done, but the next second, William's arm was in her hand. The male screamed in pain before lunging towards me again. This time, Rose had to block him, but he must have done something, because Rose was screaming in pain as she fell to the ground — clutching her neck. He bit her. He bit my sister! As William placed his foot on Rose's chest, about to crush her, Emmett came from out of nowhere to tackle him. He and Esme quickly finished the vampire off, before throwing his pieces into the fire that had been burning slowly. It now putting out deep, purple, sweet smelling, smoke.

"Cole!" someone yelled.

Before I could figure out who yelled, another breeze blew past me — knocking me to the ground alone. Where had Josh gone? Esme picked me up and I felt the pain flare up from my side, which I had fallen on. As it stood now, Esme held me, Rose was screaming in pain with Emmett doing something to her, Alice and Victoria where still circling each other, Jasper was moving quickly around she-vamp, and Carlisle… where was Carlisle?

"Where did he go?" Esme yelled, looking around frantically. Was she looking for Carlisle or Josh, or even James — who I still hadn't seen?

"Into the jungle, help Rose, I'll go after him," Emmett said as Esme ran us closer to Rose, who was writhing in pain.

She set me down on the jungle floor as I gasped in pain, but quickly silenced myself as Esme looked to me worried. I had looked around just in time to see Alice rip Victoria's arms off and throw them into the fire, before taking her head off. Jasper was still fighting with she-vamp.

"Ah, damn it!" Rose hissed through her teeth.

I grabbed her hand as she convulsed. She tightened her grip much too hard, and I heard the bones in my hand snap before Esme could pull my hand away. I screamed in pain.

"S…s…sorry!" Rose hissed as I clutched my broken right hand to my chest.

"She didn't mean to. She's in a lot of pain," Esme said as she took Rose's hand, watching her writhe in pain.

How long would the pain last? I knew it wouldn't kill her, but watching Rose in so much pain brought tears to my eyes. I looked around again. Jasper had the blonde's head in his hands. He twisted and pulled her close to his mouth. It sounded like metal twisting when he bit and tore her head from her body, letting it fall to the ground with a thump. Three of the four vampires had been destroyed. Alice, Jasper, and Esme were all fine. And Rose was starting to calm down, but Carlisle, Emmett, and Josh were still missing, as was the fourth vampire. I heard a man's voice scream out from somewhere in the jungle. It didn't sound like Carlisle or Emmett but I couldn't be sure about Josh. When I heard it again, I knew it was Josh. He was screaming like Rose had been.

"No, no, no," I whimpered as Esme pulled me close, picking me back up off the jungle floor.

"We need to get Cole and Rose back to the house," Jasper said as he picked Rose up off the ground.

Before I could argue, we were flying through the wild vegetation. When we got back to the house, Jasper cracked an ice pack and Esme held it to my already swelling hand. Rose was lying on the couch with Alice gently caressing her cheek. She must have still been in pain, but she wasn't screaming anymore.

"You need to go help Josh!" I begged Jasper as he wrapped a temporary bandage around my hand. He and Esme looked at each other as if having a conversation in their heads. "What!" I begged, just as the screaming started back up — coming close, very quickly. I heard a door slam shut outside before Emmett rushed in.

"Carlisle needs you," Emmett told Jasper.

Jasper just nodded and stood up running from the house.

"What happened? Are they okay?" I asked as Emmett peeled the blood soaked shirt off.

"James is dead, but he hurt Josh really badly. He bit him, but Carlisle's gonna help him," Emmett said, kissing my forehead before heading over to Rose.

I shrugged off the couch and started falling face first before Esme caught me. My left side was killing me again.

"I need to see him!" I cried.

"Carlisle will help him. Something's wrong with your pelvis," she said.

"No, I need to go and see him, Esme! Please?" I begged as she sat me back down on the couch.

I tried to sit up again, but the pain from my side made me cry-out. The door opened again and Carlisle was hovering over me. He had more blood on him than Emmett. He touched right above my hip and I screamed.

"The fracture to her pelvis was most likely extended by the force of her fall," he said quietly, before putting both hands on each side of me and feeling around — making me once more scream. "It's stable. No bone shards from what I can hear, but I need an x-ray."

"Josh," I whimpered in pain.

"He's going to change. I can't take the venom out. He'd die from exsanguination if I tried. But he will make it," he told me as blackness engulfed me.

**Carlisle's POV**

**During the Fight…**

"She's going to make a tasty treat," William yelled at Esme, his head nodding towards Cole.

Esme quickly took the males arm off. He screamed in pain before lunging towards Cole again. This time, Rose had to block him, but almost too quickly for even my eyes to see, he bit her. As William placed his foot on Rose's chest, about to crush her, Emmett quickly ran and tackled him before Esme could. He and Esme finished the vampire off, before throwing his pieces into the fire. I almost missed the movement from the right of Cole and Josh — another vampire. James was running towards my daughter.

"Cole!" I yelled, running after him.

Before I could stop him, he slammed into Josh, which sent Cole to the ground. I couldn't stop and make sure she was all right, because James threw Josh over his shoulder and took off into the jungle. I ran after. About a mile in, I caught up to him, diving and sweeping his feet out from under him. He and Josh hit the ground, but I wasn't quick enough to stop him from sinking his teeth into Josh's neck. I tackled him, throwing him off Josh, who was already starting to convulse and scream. James got away and I was torn between going after him or helping Josh.

"Go," I heard Josh say between gasps and screams.

So I went, running through the jungle, to find James. His scent circled back towards the beach, where my family was, before heading back to Josh. I found him kneeling over Josh, biting him on the other side of his neck. This time when I tackled him, I kept hold. He wasn't getting away from me again. We struggled, knocking down three trees, before staring each other down.

"You're weak." He smirked. "Once I kill you, I'll finish him, and then drain the delicious smelling girl back on the beach. She can be my dessert." He laughed as I charged, sinking my teeth in his shoulder — injecting my venom to just cause him pain.

Once he was screaming in pain, I tore both of his legs off, then arms, and finally his head. Emmett had followed me, and while I was tearing James apart, he started a fire. I heard Josh screaming and went to help him while Emmett burned the pieces of what was once James.

Josh had bite marks on both sides of his neck. Venom was heavy in his blood stream. James had managed to bite both of his carotid arteries, causing heavy bleeding that needed to be stopped. By now, Emmett came over to help in any way possible.

"Too much venom, not enough blood," I sighed to myself.

"You can suck it out. That's possible," Emmett said as I ripped Josh's pant legs and held pressure over the bleeding sites.

"If I removed the venom, I'd have to take blood. He doesn't have enough left in him to survive. Hold this for me," I said, taking his hand and placing it over the left side of Josh's neck.

"What about a blood transfusion. Give him more blood," he suggested.

"The venom is going to reach his heart soon. There's not enough time, and I don't even know if that would work. But if I don't stop this bleeding, he'll die before the venom could save him," I said, trying to think of something I could use to seal his arteries.

_Venom._

"I'm sorry, Josh, but this is going to hurt," I whispered as I leaned down and sealed the arteries with my venom.

He screamed louder and louder as I sealed the wound on his right side, and then moved to his left. When I finished, I examined both wounds carefully. They were healing and the bleeding had stopped. Emmett and I were both covered in Josh's blood — me a little more.

"What did you do?" Emmett asked.

"I sealed his wounds. The venom can't escape his system, and the bleeding has stopped. In three days, he'll be a vampire. We need to get back to the house. To make sure everyone is all right. How was Cole?"

"She wasn't bleeding, but I honestly couldn't tell you if she was hurt from the fall. Rose was bitten, but everyone else was all right. Jasper and Alice were still fighting when I left," he said as I picked Josh up off the jungle floor.

"Let's go then. When we get to the house, get Jasper for me. And change your clothes," I said as we took off running.

Josh kept screaming that he was on fire, and in the distance I could hear everyone in the house. The fight was over. After laying Josh down on the hospital bed in the pool house. Emmett sent Jasper in.

"He's turning," Jasper said as I started washing the blood off my hands and face. I washed my mouth out as well.

"I couldn't stop it, so I sealed the venom in to stop the bleeding. I didn't have another choice. How is everyone? Cole? Rose?"

"Rose is doing better. She's not in as much pain. Cole has a badly broken hand and from how she's holding herself, I'd guess something happened to her pelvis. I wrapped and iced her hand, but you'll need to set it and check her pelvis out," he said as he took Josh's hand.

The venom was just about to reach his heart and the pain would become more intense, so I quickly grabbed a few vials of morphine and injected him with an amount that would easily kill a human. I hoped it would help the pain, and I think it might have, because he stopped writhing and screaming.

"He'll burn it off quickly. It won't last all three days, but for now, hopefully it will help," I said.

"I'll stay with him, but we can't keep him and Cole here. He'll be able to smell her sometime tomorrow and that would just make the change more painful. I think you and Esme should take Cole away from here. It would be easier than trying to get Josh away."

"I start at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, Washington on June 6th. Maybe I can push that date up, but the house won't be ready until May."

"Rental house or hotel?" he suggested.

"The only options. What about Josh?"

"Once he's done with the transformation, Alice and I will take him somewhere remote like Alaska or Africa. We'll teach him everything, and hopefully in a few years, he'll be ready to be around humans without killing them."

"Hopefully. I'm going to go check on Cole, but I might need x-rays, so I'll send Emmett back in here to get the machine. Thank you, Jasper."

"Cole's safe — everyone's safe now. It didn't go exactly how we planned, but we're all going to be all right and they're all dead," he said as I nodded and walked out of the pool house.

I quickly ran to the main house and walked in as Cole was trying, uselessly, to get up. She looked up to me, and then down at my clothes as I went over and touched her left side.

"The fracture to her pelvis was most likely extended by the force of her fall," I said quietly before putting both hands on each side of her pelvis and moved them around gently — making Cole scream. "It's stable. No bone shards from what I can hear, but I need an x-ray."

"Josh," she whimpered in pain.

"He's going to change. I can't take the venom out. He'd die from exsanguination if I tried. But he will make it," I told her as her eyes fluttered and she passed out. Her heart rate was steady, as was her breathing, so she just fainted from the pain.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	34. Chapter 34

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

We already had a new plan. In the morning before noon, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Cole, and I would be back on the jet heading to Port Angeles. Alice and Jasper were staying here with Josh until his change was complete. I didn't like leaving him, but since he would soon be able to smell Cole — which would make his throat burn worse — she couldn't be here. So while he adjusted to his new life with Alice and Jasper, the rest of us would move to Port Angeles like we had planned.

I already had a job lined up. I would be the new Chief of Trauma Surgery at Olympic Medical Center, but the plan wasn't for me to start until June, so either that would need to be adjusted or I wouldn't start working for close to three months. The new house, unfortunately, was being built, so we couldn't change the date on that. It would ready in early May again — two months from now. Until then, we'd either have to rent a place or stay in a hotel. And since I didn't want Cole to be living out of a hotel, that left us with renting.

As I set Cole's broken hand, Esme filled me in on what I had missed. Apparently, Cole wanted to comfort Rose, but at the time, with how much pain Rose was in, she couldn't control her strength and accidently snapped Cole's second, fourth, and fifth metacarpal bones. The bones which lead to her pointer, ring, and pinkie, respectively. It was a badly broken hand that would need surgery if the bones didn't fuse correctly. In a hospital, she would be sent for surgery to have pins inserted. They wouldn't even try to let them heal on their own. After setting each bone, I took an x-ray to be sure it was lined up correctly. If I could keep the bones lined up correctly, then hopefully I could spare Cole the pain of surgery and re-breaking the bones.

"Are you sure she's not in pain?" Esme asked as I pushed the mobile x-ray away again and began the tedious process of casting Cole's hand.

Esme held it steady, in the right position, as I wrapped her arm from her fingertips to midway up her arm in padding.

"Yes, she's anesthetized. She can't feel a thing and will not remember this," I told her.

"Rose is so sorry. You know?"

I smiled. "I know, Esme, and I don't blame her. It was an accident."

"What about her pelvis?" she asked.

I had already taken an x-ray of it, and from what I could see, the fracture had been extended a few centimeters, which meant all of Cole's progress was useless. She'd have to start all over.

"It's stable, but she'll have to start all over in her recovery. At least it won't need surgery."

"Good. Emmett and Rose said the jet is almost loaded. We'll be leaving soon," she whispered.

"I don't want to leave him right now either, but Jasper and Alice will look out for him. We'll still talk to him."

"I know, I'm just worried about Cole. The two of them have become very close. She could relate to him in a way she can't with us. They were both human in a vampire's world."

"She'll be all right, _amore. W_e'll get through this. I promise," I told her as I started applying the white plaster cast.

Cole would hate this, but I needed to be sure the cast was as snug as possible. I really did not want her to need surgery. After I finished casting her hand, I took one more x-ray to be sure the bones were in place, which as of now, they were. So I rested Cole's hand on her stomach and put her in a sling.

"Can I sign it?" Emmett asked as he and Rose came into the bedroom.

"You'll have to ask Cole," I said.

"She'll let me. So anyway, the jet's all ready to go. Jasper is gonna ship everything else, but all of our stuff fit except the medical equipment."

"That's fine. I shouldn't need it once were back near society. I just want the supplies. Medications, kits, those things."

"All in the cabinets like last time. Rose put new sheets on the gurney for Cole."

"Thank you, Rose," I told her with a smile.

"I'm really sorry, Carlisle. I didn't mean to break her hand," she said.

"It was an accident. No one is at fault. You were in pain, and Cole thought holding your hand would help. She didn't realize you wouldn't be in control of your strength. Like I said, it was an accident," I told her as I stood up and embraced her.

She truly felt horrible, but she didn't need to. Cole wouldn't be mad and I certainly wasn't. Cole wanted to hold her sisters hand, but unfortunately, she couldn't without getting hurt. Her pelvis though was another story. I was angry, enraged that all the hard work Cole put in was out the window because of James. I watched her try so hard. I watched her in pain as she managed to get to twenty feet, and now she has to start all over.

"Hmm… Ow" Cole moaned as I rushed back over to her. She was waking up.

"_Tesoro_? How's the pain, baby girl?" I asked, taking her left hand.

"S'not so bad. My hand's numb. Is it supposed to be numb?"

"I used a local anesthetic as well, so yes, it's supposed to be numb feeling. How about your pelvis? Are you in any pain there?"

"A little, but not too bad. Can I see Josh?"

"I don't know, sweetie. He's in a lot of pain and it might not be the best idea."

"But we're leaving. I wanna see him before we do. Please? I might not get to see him for a while," she begged, her little lip jutted out and she looked at me with her big green eyes.

I couldn't say no, well, I probably would have, but she did deserve to say goodbye. She wouldn't be able to see him for at least a year, most likely longer.

"All right, but don't touch him. He's getting stronger and I don't want to risk him hurting you. He's been unusually quiet. I gave him a lot of morphine before his veins sealed shut, so hopefully that's why. I'm going to carry you, okay?" I asked.

She nodded and lifted her left arm up to place around my neck. I lifted her carefully — certain not to jostle her too much — as she kept her plastered arm to her chest with the sling. Everyone followed us out to the pool house where Josh, Jasper, and Alice were. Jasper had been trying to keep Josh calm, but as far as he could tell, Josh didn't need his help. Jasper couldn't feel any pain or anguish from him, so maybe, just maybe, the morphine had helped. Either that, or Josh had a power to mask his emotions. Possible, but not as probable.

As we walked in, Jasper and Alice were sitting on a couch pulled close to the hospital bed Josh was lying on. They had cleaned him up, and Alice found more suitable clothing for him. He truly looked like one of us. He was becoming paler by the hour, and his features were starting to change.

His jaw was more square like, his cheeks more pronounced, even his body was changing. His mediocre muscle mass was becoming more defined. As a human, he certainly wasn't overweight or very muscular, but I had a feeling as a vampire, he would have more defined muscles — similar to Jasper or me. He wouldn't grow much, maybe an inch if that, but his shape would change drastically. Everyone's does after being turned. His once shaggy dull brown hair was changing color. It was becoming a few shades lighter. Still brown, just brighter with other colors adding highlights and lowlights.

"Can… can he hear me?" Cole asked as I sat her down on a cushioned chair not far from Josh's left side.

"Possibly. I don't really know with the morphine," I told her before kissing the top of her head and backing away to give her some time.

"Will it really hurt him if I just touch his hand?" she asked.

I looked to Jasper and he mouthed "let her". If anything changed in his emotions, Jasper would be the first to know.

"Just don't grip his hand. Rest your hand on his, but if he moves, I'm pulling you away," I told her as she cautiously raised her left hand and rested it on his.

"Hi," she whispered. "I'm really sorry if you're in any pain. I hope you're not mad about this. It was the only way to save you." She sniffling softly. I could smell the tears forming in her eyes. "You're gonna be hot." She chuckled. "You're gonna be even better looking than Carlisle."

Everyone chuckled softly as Esme wrapped her arm around mine, winking. Somewhere between trying to laugh and trying not to cry, Cole rested her head next to Josh's hand.

"I love you. You're the only human that hasn't hurt me, and I know you'll become one of the few vampires that won't. So this isn't goodbye; I'll see you again."

Her voice broke and the tears streamed down her cheeks as she moved to rest her forehead on his hand. She kissed his hand first before putting her head back down on the bed.

"I hope you like hunting. The way Emmett talks about it, it seems fun. Just don't play with your food too much; it's not nice," she cried as I walked closer and placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some support. She sat up and looked to me, her cheeks red, eyes filled with tears. "I can talk to him, right? On the phone?"

"Of course," I told her.

"I love you, Josh. I hope you don't hate me for this cause. I'm really sorry!" she sobbed, ducking her head down. I picked her up out of the chair and cradled her to my chest as she sobbed.

"I'm sure he'd like a kiss goodbye," I told her. S

She looked at me brightly and I nodded. I helped position her, so she could kiss his cheek before, pulling her back to my chest.

"Goodbye, Josh. Thank you for what you did," I told him as I carried Cole out of the room and out of the pool house. Esme followed and wrapped her arm around my waist, kissing Cole's forehead, before kissing me.

"We should probably get going. Flight plan says we take off in twenty minutes," Emmett said as everyone followed out.

We said our goodbyes to Alice and Jasper before running through the forest to the jet. Esme and I helped Cole get as comfortable as possible on the gurney with pillows galore. I knew she would be much more comfortable lying down than having to sit in one of the seats with her pelvis, so luckily, we never took the gurney out. After fastening her seatbelts, I took the seat next to her feet and Esme sat next to me. Rose stayed in the cockpit with Emmett as we started moving.

It would be a new life for us all — a fresh start. Jasper had already talked to Jenks this morning, and new documents were being made. I would be thirty-three. The age I normally started out as. We could easily stay for five years, maybe longer if the town is big enough and we stay inconspicuous. Esme would be twenty-nine. The documents would say Emmett was her nephew and Rose a foster child whom we took in after she had no place to go. We knew her because she and Emmett were dating and we already loved her, so we added her to our family. Cole would be our adopted daughter, whom we adopted when she was eight — six years ago. Esme and I married right after she turned eighteen, so we had been married almost eleven years. A well-established relationship.

As always, Esme couldn't have children, so we adopted Emmett after her brother died and Cole a few years later. Rose just joined our family this past year. Emmett and Rose would be seventeen — juniors in the fall. Cole would be her actual age and starting high school in the fall. We'd have documents to prove all of this. Esme and I would be Dr. and Mrs. Carlisle Cullen, with our children Emmett Cullen, Nicole 'Cole' Cullen, and Rosalie Hale.

Just a normal American family… with a few secrets.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	35. Chapter 35

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

It was just after three in the morning when I got home from work. I usually got off at five in the afternoon, but there was a major accident on the 101 and, as Chief of Trauma Surgery, I had to stay and help out. We lost two of the seven patients from the horrid accident. One was just a child, only fifteen. I worked on the girl for hours, using all the medical knowledge I had to try and save her, but it was useless in the end. Her injuries were just too severe. I called time of death and signed the chart. That was when I learned her name — Nicole. All I could think about was Cole. She was only a few months younger and they shared the same name. I was so close to jumping back in and trying to bring that girl back, because even though she looked nothing like Cole, I saw Cole's face. For a second, I saw Cole on that operating table and the world stopped. Needless to say, all I wanted to do was check on my baby girl, so as I shut the garage door I rushed upstairs to Cole's room.

Esme was lying in bed next to Cole, who was up against her side board. She was sound asleep. Her heart was beating and she was breathing.

"You're home!" Esme said softly with a smile as I leaned down and kissed her "hello". "It must have been a long night. You're still in scrubs."

She moved over and I climbed in the bed to lay down with her. I leaned over and kissed Cole's forehead, before getting comfortable and wrapping my arms around Esme.

"I lost a patient — a young girl. I just wanted to get home. Did Cole have another nightmare?"

We had stopped lying with Cole as she slept once we moved in a few months ago, but lately her nightmares had gotten worse. Now they were about the fight. Esme and I die and she wakes up screaming. So if she has one, we tend to lay with her until morning. I had seriously considered having her talk to a therapist, but again, it's not like she could actually confide in one. So at night, I had been reading up on post-traumatic-stress-disorder in teens as well as general psychology to try and help her. Emmett gave me a few pointers, since he actually had a doctorate in psychology. He had even volunteered to talk to Cole, as has Rose. Apparently, it hadn't helped.

"A horrible one," Esme said, sighing. "She woke up in a full panic attack around midnight. Emmett and Rose helped me calm her down, and I gave her one of those Ativan pills. You said in case of an emergency, and this was an emergency."

"It's getting worse," I whispered, looking over to our daughter, who as of now was sound asleep. She looked peaceful, when not but hours ago, she was so upset Esme had to give her medication.

"Technically, she went four nights without one — the longest yet. So maybe it's slowly getting better. I think she needs to talk to Josh again."

"What was this nightmare about?"

I was trying to figure out how Josh could help. It had been almost six months since he was changed. Alice and Jasper took him up to Alaska. Jasper thought it might be a good idea to start introducing him to Cole's scent, so we've sent some of Cole's clothes up there. Josh had taken to this life pretty well, but then again, he hadn't had much human temptation in the Alaskan wilderness. He had been hunting once a day, trying to get his eyes to change color faster. But they still had a tint of red, seeing as how his blood still lingers in his tissue. I doubt hunting so much would change that. It would work its way out of his system eventually; he just has to wait.

"It was Josh this time. The blonde female killed him in front of her after we were all destroyed. He was all she had left, and she watched him die. I'm truly grateful I can't sleep anymore, Carlisle. I can vaguely remember nightmares, but hers seem so real. Her screams make it seem like she's watching it really happen," she told me with sad eyes.

"Nightmares are powerful. They can be truly terrifying, but she'll get through this. We'll help her," I said, resting my head on her shoulder.

"She has that doctor's appointment tomorrow. You're still taking her, right?"

"Of course. I scheduled the morning off just for it."

Cole, unfortunately, did need surgery on her hand. It went well and the bones healed perfectly, but she had another follow up appointment in the morning with the orthopedic surgeon. Hopefully, it would be the last since she finished physical therapy a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, her tendons also needed to be repaired, which was done when he fixed her hand during surgery.

We explained that she broke it on a zip-line in South America. We said she hit a tree, which was also how she fractured her pelvis. The clinic set the broken bones, but we had to wait until we got back to the states for a full work-up. I made an appointment a few days after we arrived and moved into the rental house. A few days after that, she was in surgery. It wasn't easy to come up with a good story for all her previous injuries, but Alice helped. Cole was in a car accident, which was how she ruptured her spleen. The trip to South America was a celebration of her getting better. A weak story, considering I'd never willingly take Cole to a tropical jungle weeks after having her immune system compromised. The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Reynolds, simply laughed and made us promise not to take another trip once her broken bones were healed. We obliged.

School started in less than a week. Cole tried to say she wasn't nervous, but clearly she was. Esme and Rose helped her catch up, so she wouldn't have trouble starting high school. She never attended her 8th grade year, but with Esme tutoring her, she seemed well caught up. I was very glad Emmett and Rose moved with us. That way, Cole would have older siblings. We had already decided, or I should say Emmett already decided, he would fail his senior year next year, so he could stay with Cole. He won't fail this year, so he could stay with Rose, but next year he was going to be very distracted. Cole would spend her senior year alone, but by then she would be older. She would be able to drive, which I was not looking forward to, especially after last night.

"Daddy, I can't find my phone. I think Emmett took it again," Cole said as she rushed around the living room — flipping over pillows. We needed to leave here soon for her appointment.

"Emmett, did you take Cole's phone?" I asked.

"Yep," I heard him yell from upstairs.

"Why?" I asked as he came running down stairs.

"She needed new music and ringtones. Now, I'm just messing with her, though. Come on, shorty, jump for the phone," he teased, holding the phone above his head.

Obviously, Cole couldn't even almost reach, so I went to grab it. He moved.

"Emmett, give her the phone. We have to go," I said.

He laughed. "She can get it. Jump for me, shorty."

She climbed on the counter, which I had asked her not to do, and jumped on his back, another thing I had asked her not to do. The child would fall and break her neck.

"Give it to me!" She giggled.

She was secretly enjoying this. She would never admit it, but she loved when Emmett messed with her. She liked having a big brother. One she knew would always protect and make her laugh. I walked over, wiggled an arm between Cole's stomach and Emmett's, and back pulled her off. Then snatched the phone from Emmett. I held Cole against me with one arm and the phone in the other. Cole giggled and squirmed as I held her a foot off the ground. She reached for the phone as I pulled my arm away.

I smirked. "Say please."

"Please, daddy, can I have my phone?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

"You're gonna be late," Esme teased, pulling the phone from my hand. I kissed her as I set Cole down.

"No we aren't," I said. "May I have Cole's phone?"

"No you may not. Cole can have Cole's phone. Here, darling." Esme giggled, giving Cole the phone. It dinged with a text message as she held it in her hands.

"Emmett!" she yelled.

I could hear Emmett laughing a few hundred yards away with Rose.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He's not funny," she said, handing me her phone.

Emmett changed all of her contact names and pictures. He was now Captain Emmett, the great. And his picture was him — with a cape. The text message just said "Ha". You'd think it would be more embarrassing and time consuming to do these things, but no, not to him.

I gave Cole the phone back, Esme a kiss goodbye, and we headed out to my brand-new Mercedes. I didn't covet many material goods, but I did like getting a new Mercedes every time we moved. Everyone actually got new cars. Esme a BMW X6 crossover SUV, Emmett a new Jeep, and Rose and new Lexus convertible.

The drive to the doctor's office was quick — only twenty minutes. Cole had spent most of the ride fiddling with her phone, receiving texts from Emmett. She broke out laughing a few times. It was good to see her laugh like that. She tucked the phone into her back pocket as we got out of the car and walked toward the building. The office was in a building next to the hospital.

I checked her in and we sat and waited for a few minutes before she was called back for x-rays, like usual. When she came back, the nurse led us to an exam room in the back. Cole hopped up on the exam table like usual. This had, unfortunately, become something of a routine. I took a seat in the small plastic chair next to the exam table.

"Is it weird for me to not like doctors?" Cole asked out of the blue.

I knew what she asked to be true. She really didn't like doctors, no matter how nice they were, and Dr. Reynolds was very good with her.

"A lot of people don't like doctors. It's not weird." I smirked. "You like me, though, right?"

"I love you." She giggled as Dr. Reynolds knocked on the door and came in with her file and new x-rays.

"Hello, Cole, Dr. Cullen… Something funny, kiddo?" he asked, putting her chart down and pulling the films out of the large folder — tucking them into the light board.

"Not really, I'm just so happy to be here. For the last time, right?" She smiled as he and I chuckled.

"Maybe. Let's take a look at these, shall we? Did you want to take a look, Dr. Cullen?" he asked as I stood up and he switched the light on.

"The bones have healed nicely," I commented.

"Very." He smiled. "I think it's safe to say she no longer needs to be in my care."

I looked back at Cole in time to see her finishing a "fist pump" with a grin.

After leaving the exam room with a very happy Cole, we stopped by a small ice cream shop. We arrived home about two hours before my shift began. The doctor's visit didn't take nearly as long as I had anticipated. As we entered the house, she pulled her phone out, dialing the number we had given to Josh. I thought "good", Esme and I both wanted her to talk to him, considering her nightmare last night, so I was happy she called him without prompt.

"Hey, sweets. How'd the doctor's appointment go?" Josh asked.

His voice has changed considerably, but Cole smirked a little at his nick name for her. She once commented how most of her nick names involved "sweet". We simply said it was because she was the sweetest girl in the world. I didn't listen to their conversation until I heard her breathing pick up. She was on the verge of tears.

"I miss you," she said.

I could smell the fresh tears as her voice broke on those three words.

"I miss you too, but Jasper said something about getting me a laptop with internet access, so we can video chat. We'll see each other soon," he told her.

"I'm sorry," she cried.

"What for, baby girl?"

"That you were changed. That you were hurt! It's all my fault."

"Not even a little bit. I wanted this. Maybe not this way, but I did want to be a vampire. I like it. I feel great."

"You do?"

"I do. I've never felt more… normal. More at home in my own body — with who I am. I'm glad I'm a vampire, so don't apologize, sweets."

"Oh… okay, but I just wish it was under better circumstances. That James… wasn't the one."

"James may have started it, but Carlisle finished. It's because of his venom I even survived. Carlisle changed me."

We had never told Cole exactly what transpired that night. I didn't want to upset her.

"He did?"

"Yeah. When I was bleeding, about to die, Carlisle sealed the wounds shut with his venom. You didn't know?"

"No… I thought James did it all. I always pictured you lying there — James killing you," she whispered.

"Carlisle stopped him. I can't say I know exactly what happened, but Carlisle saved me. Like he always does. He saves everyone." Josh chuckled.

"Can… can I call you back?"

"Sure. I'll talk to you later. Love you, sweets.".

"Love you, too," she said, hanging up the phone.

She rose from her seat on her bed and began walking down stairs to the kitchen where Esme and I were. Esme was starting Cole's lunch.

"James didn't do it. Well, he did, but you stopped him from killing Josh. Thank you, daddy," she cried, wrapping her arms around my torso.

"Does it help knowing he wasn't alone?" I asked.

"A lot."

"Good, because he wasn't. I was there and I killed James. They can't hurt you anymore."

"I know that now," she sighed.

I held her for a few more minutes, before Esme announced lunch was done. Cole sat down on a bar stool next to me. She ate the flat bread, Cuban sandwich, looking much happier. Maybe knowing the truth of what happened would help with her nightmares. She didn't have to wonder what went on. It seems that once again, hiding the truth in hopes of saving her pain was the wrong answer. It just made it worse. One day, I would realize that she didn't need to be shielded from the truth. She was stronger than I give her credit for.

"Are you gonna be home before I go to bed tonight?" Cole asked as she popped a pickle in her mouth.

"I'm only working six hours today, so I should be home by seven. Last night was crazy. That shouldn't happen often," I said.

"What time did you get home?"

"Around three. There was major car accident, so I was needed in surgery."

"How are your patients?"

"The two minor injuries I treated went home last night. The critical one didn't make it through surgery," I said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you did everything humanly possible. Sometimes it's not enough."

She sounded so adult like. My little girl was trying to cheer me up.

"I know, baby girl, but thank you for reminding me," I said, pulling her head closer, so I could kiss the top of it. Esme came from behind the island and slid onto my lap, kissing my cheek.

"So where did Emmett and Rose go?" I asked. Cole would know after all.

"Hunting. Apparently, there's a bear problem somewhere in Canada that they felt the need to take care of. But I bet you hundred bucks they're just doing it in the forest." She laughed. She's spent way too much time with Emmett.

"I'm not taking that bet, because I don't want to know what they're doing," I said with a smirk. A million dollars said she was right, though.

By the time I needed to leave for work, Cole and Esme were in her room, looking through the mounds of clothing they purchased the other day. I walked in on a very interesting conversation about backpack versus large purses. Utterly fascinating. Esme glowed when she and Cole spend time together, talking about and doing such mundane things. Though, she and the other girls got along famously, she and Cole shared a different bond. Truly, we all shared a different type of bond with Cole.

I had always thought I was a father, but until Cole, I wasn't. I was, but not in the same way. I was a vampire father before. Now, I truly felt like a human father. Cole brought out the humanity in all of us. Even Emmett had slowed down his movements around the house. He used to like to use his speed, but I've noticed he doesn't as much.

"The backpack will be easier to carry around with books. A large purse would put unnecessary pressure on one arm," I said, interrupting their conversation.

"But the purse is so cute!" Cole squealed, showing me the purse. "It's a Medium Vintage Check Hobo bag with red leather straps!"

I about busted out laughing. Her enthusiasm over this bag was ridiculous. Alice brain washed my daughter.

"I agree with your father on this. The backpack would be more… common, and easier. Besides, we already agreed not to be flashy. That's why you kids are taking Emmett's Jeep and not Rose's car to school," Esme said, passing Cole the plain pink book bag.

"Fine. Are you going to work?" Cole asked, turning her attention to me.

"Yes, I need to be signed in within the next half-hour. I was just coming to say goodbye," I told her as she jumped from her bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"Have a good day. I love you."

"I will and I love you too, _tesoro_. I'll see you tonight." I pressed a kiss to her forehead before saying my goodbyes to Esme.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	36. Chapter 36

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

I might have spent a little more time than usual in the shower this morning. It was the first day of school. The day I had been dreading for months. I wasn't as nervous about failing. I mean, Esme and Rose had been tutoring me since we moved, and I was sure if I needed help, they would do what they could. No, I was nervous about the other kids. What if they didn't like me? People either seemed to love me or hate me — hate more often than love. What if I fall and make a fool out of myself? Distinct possibility, considering it was me we were talking about. As I stepped back into my room and pulled on the pair of jean shorts and teal camisole, my fear surged. Thank God, Jasper wasn't here.

I threw the white crocheted short sleeve sweater on over my shoulders and slid on the little flats, before hooking my book bag over my right shoulder. My phone was firmly tucked into my shorts pocket, but I checked again to make sure. Carlisle was first on my favorites list. Followed by Esme, then Emmett, and Rose. All I had to do was hit the home button twice, touch Carlisle's name, and it would call him. He was just a few finger movements away, but that didn't offer as much comfort as I wished.

Before heading downstairs, I clasped the Cullen Crest necklace around my neck and fluffed out my hair. My crest was just like Rose's, only much smaller. But I loved it. Carlisle still had my necklace in his pocket. He'd keep it with his wallet, and no matter what he was wearing, he had it. He had that little part of me with him every day. That thought made me smile as I looked in the mirror. I wore my hair down in its natural wavy curls with my bangs just above my eyelashes. I thought I looked pretty cute.

After tugging on the crest, I took a deep breath and went downstairs. Esme was pouring me a bowl of cereal as Carlisle sat on one of stools with a paper. Emmett and Rose sat on the end — her in his lap.

"Shorty! You look adorable. I'll have to beat those boys off of you with a stick." Emmett laughed as Carlisle and Esme looked up and smiled.

"You look beautiful, baby," Esme said, putting my bowl down next to Carlisle.

"Gorgeous, _tesoro._" Carlisle smiled as I put my bag down and went to sit down next to him.

"Are you excited?" Rose asked from Emmett's lap.

"Uh… yeah… totally. Can't wait," I said, "For it to be over," I added mentally.

I picked up the spoon and moved the cheerios around in the milk. I wasn't really hunger. I was a little nauseous and I really didn't want to eat this. But I caught Carlisle's eye and picked up a spoonful, shoving it in my mouth and acting like I enjoyed it when my stomach felt like it was pushing the cereal back up to my throat.

"You all right, munchkin? Lookin' a little green around the gills," Emmett said as my head flew up to give him an evil look. "Or not," he quickly added.

"Are you feeling all right, _tesoro_?" Carlisle asked, pressing his hand against my cheek, and then forehead. "You're not warm. Is your stomach bothering you?"

"No, I feel fine," I said, brushing his hand away and taking another bite to prove my point.

I choked down the cereal as the clock ticked on to seven-twenty. It was time to go. Esme enveloped me into a hug after placing my bowl in the sink. She kissed the top of my head a few times, making everyone laugh quietly.

"Love, they're going to be late if you don't let Cole go," Carlisle said

"I know. Just let me have her for a few more minutes," Esme said, pulling me tighter.

"I love you, mom, but we gotta go. Don't wanna be late the first day… Unless you wanna home school me. Which I'm fine with, by the way," I said, putting my face deeper into her shoulder.

I hoped she wouldn't let me go. I felt the burn behind my eyes as my breathing picked up. I was going to cry; it was inevitable. I felt another hand on my back as Esme loosened her grip. I quickly swung around and latched on to the owner of the hand — Carlisle.

"Daddy, I don't wanna go," I whispered into his chest as the inevitable tears fell and soaked through his shirt.

"Rose, Emmett, why don't you two go ahead. I'll drop Cole off. All right?" Carlisle said.

"I think it might be better if you let us take her," Emmett said before I heard quiet whispers between him and Carlisle that I couldn't make out.

"I agree," Carlisle said before pulling himself away from me and lifting my chin up to look at him. "You have to go to school, _tesoro_. I know you're frightened, but the best way to get over those fears, is to face them. Emmett's right, it would be best if he and Rose took you. I'll only be a phone call away. Just go today and we'll talk more tonight. Just try for me, please?"

"I can call you… No matter what?" I asked, sniffling.

"No matter what. I'll call the office at the school and tell them you need unrestricted access to your phone, and if you need to call me, they need to let you. Just ask to go to the bathroom."

"We'll be there Cole. We'll keep an ear out for you and walk you to every class," Emmett said.

"Pr…promise?"

"Yep, cross my heart."

"O…o…okay."

"All right, _tesoro_. I know you can do this. I love you, baby girl," Carlisle said, giving me one last hug before Esme hugged me.

They walked us out to the Jeep and said goodbye. On the way, Rose passed me her mirror and some tissues to clean my mascara that smeared. She let me use hers to fix it.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" I asked as Rose looked back and Emmett looked in the rearview mirror.

"Nope, you look fantastic," she said.

When Emmett pulled into the parking lot, it was almost full, so we had to park in the back. The bell hadn't rung yet, so we went straight to the office to get our schedules. People were gawking at Rose and Emmett. And when their eyes landed on me, they quickly went back to Rose or Emmett — depending on their sex.

"Hi, I'm Emmett Cullen. This is my sister Nicole Cullen and my girlfriend Rosalie Hale. We're new this year and need our schedules," Emmett told the receptionist — Ms. Grady.

"Ohm of course. Your father just called. Nicole is Cole, right?" she asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Odd name for a girl. Any who, he explained your medical problems and here's a hallway pass." She handed me a piece of paper. "You can use it at any time. Just let your teacher know," She said as Emmett's fist tightened. I was used to people saying my name was weird, but I don't think he liked her attitude much.

"Thank you. Our schedules?" Emmett asked.

"Of course, here you go and here's some maps. Have a great first day. I hope you like it here," she told us as Emmett took the schedules and maps.

He handed me mine and I looked it over.

First Bell: 7:40 a.m.  
Period 1-Algebra, Mr. Hanson RM 107: 7:45 a.m.-8:37 a.m.  
Advisory-Mr. Hanson RM 107: 8:42 a.m.-9:15 a.m.  
Period 2-English 9, Mrs. Fields RM 213: 9:20 a.m.-10:12 a.m.  
Period 3-French level 1, Ms. Middleton RM 117: 10:17 a.m.-11:09 a.m.  
Period 4-Government, Mr. Green RM 309: 11:14 a.m.-12:06 p.m.  
Lunch: 12:06 p.m.-12:41 p.m.  
Period 5-Biology, Mr. Franklin RM 140: 12:46 p.m.-1:38 p.m.  
Period 6-PE, Mr. Mills GYM: 1:43 p.m.-2:35 p.m.

"Let me see, shorty," Emmett said, grabbing my schedule. "We have Gym together!"

"What period?" Rose asked.

"Last." he said.

"Damn, I have it 5th, but we all have lunch together," she said as Emmett gave me my schedule back and took Rose's.

He grinned.

"All but 5th, 6th, and advisory together, babe. Nice lookin' schedule."

"Who did you pay?" I asked.

"What! No one. We're soul mates and the world acknowledges that we don't like to be apart. That's all," he told me as the bell rang.

They walked me to my class, and then headed upstairs to theirs. The teacher had a list of what students should be in the class, so I checked it to be sure, and then sat down in the back, pulling out my notebook and a pen.

"Shouldn't you be upfront? You look like a front row kinda chick. Hey, I'm Matt," a teenage boy with long, shaggy, blonde hair said as he sat down beside me.

He wore a football shirt and gym shorts with no backpack. Just a stickered up notebook.

I smiled politely, trying to calm my nerves. "I'm Cole, and no, I'd rather be back here."

"Cool. Nice name by the way — different. So, you just moved here? You don't look familiar."

"Yeah, my family and I moved here over the summer from New York," I said, telling the lie we had crafted.

We didn't mention Minnesota, so that no one traced us back there — considering I was dead there.

"Cool. Any siblings?"

"My brother is Junior with his girlfriend. She lives with us."

"Wouldn't wanna live with a girl yet. Why do your parents allow that?"

"Her father died, so my parents are fostering her. My brother and I are adopted."

"Interesting, so does your boyfriend live with you?" He winked.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Matt! Who's the hottie?" a boy with spiked, black hair asked as he sat down in front of me. "You took my seat new girl." He smirked.

"Cole, this is Mark. Mark, this is Cole. And technically, she was here first," Matt said.

My breath hitched when Mark smiled at me. Of course, I'd meet a guy named Mark. I wouldn't get away with never hearing that name again.

"All right, class. When I call your name, say here," the teacher said. He read through four names before calling me. "Nicole Cullen?" he asked.

"It's Cole," I said.

"Here would have sufficed, but thank you, Ms. Cullen," he said, rolling his eyes.

My heart started pounding. I'd already made a fool of myself, but no one seemed to notice or say anything. Matt threw a piece of paper on my desk and I discreetly opened it.

**He's a dick. Trust me; no one likes him. My bro had him and literally wanted to hit him.**

I looked over to him and mouthed "thanks", before stuffing the note in my bag. Class was mostly going over the syllabus and classroom rules before getting a book. Mr. Hanson gave us a take home test, so he could figure out what we knew. When the bell rang, I stayed put, and so did Mark, but Matt had to leave. Advisory period went by last name. Matt's was Zuckerman. Mark's was Carter.

"So, your new. Where'd you move from?" Mark asked.

"New York City. My dad's a surgeon and he wanted a less demanding job, so we moved to a small town, or you know, smaller than the city."

"Yeah, I get that. This place is tiny. I bet he doesn't work as much."

"Better set hours."

"Cool. My dad's a fisherman, so his work time varies. He doesn't seem to mind. So can I take a look at your schedule? See if we have any other classes together?"

I grabbed the paper from my bag and handed it to him.

"1st, advisory, 5th, and 6th together. From what I've heard Franklin and Mills are cool. Hanson is the worst."

We talked a little more. I lied about New York and he told me who to avoid before the bell rang and I walked out. Emmett and Rose were waiting for me and Mark had followed me out.

"Hey, Em, Rose," I said.

"Who's this?" Emmett asked, nodding to Mark.

"Mark. You're her brother Emmett, right?" Mark asked.

"Yep," Emmett said, stretching his arm out. His t-shirt sleeve lifted and his muscle showed off. "So, we should get going," he said, flexing the muscle. I saw Mark gulp.

"Uh, yeah. I'll see you in 5th period, Cole," Mark said, turning around and going in the other direction. He quickly turned the other way, going in the direction he was supposed to.

I smirked as we walked up the stairs. "That was mean."

Emmett laughed. "He needs to fear me. They all do."

"They will, baby," Rose told him, patting his muscular arm.

Second and third period went by fast, and I met a girl named Sarah. She was new as well, and we had a few classes together. She walked with Emmett, Rose and I to our next class, which I had with Matt. He waved me over and I sat down with him.

He introduced me to a bunch of guys that played on the football team with him. I didn't like being surrounded by teenage boys. My mind started going to a bad place, so I jumped out of my seat, flashed the teacher my pass, and ran to the bathroom, just in time to throw up.

My phone started vibrating as I flushed the toilet. It was Carlisle.

"Daddy," I whimpered.

"Alice saw you getting sick. Are you all right, sweetie?" he asked.

I sitting on the toilet seat with my knees to my chest. "No."

"Would you like me to call the office and come pick you up?"

"Yes… no… I just… had a flashback."

"Of the fight?"

"No, of my last foster home."

"What triggered it, baby?"

"I… was sitting with… a group of guys… I was nervous."

"Okay, I understand that. Why don't you maybe move seats, and get away from the boys?"

"I can do that."

"Good. Are you all right to go back to class, or do you want me to get you?"

"I… can go back. I'm trying, daddy."

"I know you are, _tesoro,_ and you're doing great. I'm very proud of you. Why don't you take a few minutes, and head back to class? Call me if you want me to come get you. You have lunch next, right?"

"Yeah."

"Talk to Emmett and Rose for me. And, sweetie?"

"Yeah."

"Just breath. You're doing really well," he said before we hung up.

I made sure my mascara looked all right and rinsed out my mouth, before going back to class. Matt asked if I was okay when I moved to the other side of Sarah. I told him I was and not to worry about it. When the bell rang, I walked out and found Emmett and Rose waiting for me.

"Carlisle texted me. Are you okay?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not very hungry."

"Well, I'm forcing you to eat something. You're already a munchkin. Can't let you get any smaller," he teased as we walked to the lunch room.

We found an empty table by the window. I ate an apple and drank a bottle of fruit punch, as Rose and Emmett pretended to eat their fries. Eventually, I stole Rose's and ate them. Emmett grinned.

"So, you had a flashback. Carlisle said you think you know what caused it?" he asked, becoming very serious.

It was hard to think that Emmett has a doctorate. An actual degree from a _college_ — a reputable one at that. I think he said Yale or Dartmouth.

"Yeah, I do. I was in the middle of a group of guys. I started thinking about my last group home and what happened there."

"And did the classroom become that house?"

I nodded. "I saw their faces. Can we talk about this later? I don't wanna start crying or have a panic attack here."

"Well, are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, much," I said as I watched him and Rose scowl past me to a table where Matt was with some girls. "What?"

"Nothing. People just need to mind their own Goddamn business," he said.

"What'd they say?"

"Don't worry about it," Rose told me, touching my hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Tell me what they said!"

"The dark haired girl with glasses was in the bathroom when you were. She heard you talking to Carlisle," Emmett told me. "She told her friends."

"Oh, God," I moaned, feeling the flip of my stomach.

I should have checked! I bolted from my chair — almost tripping over someone — as I ran to the bathroom. I busted into a stall in time to lose the apple, fruit punch, and fries. Rose followed me and held my hair back.

"Call Carlisle!" I whisper, yelled, before retching again. "I wanna go home."

"You need to call the school office and come get Cole," Rose said into her phone. "Someone heard you two talking and told her friends." I gagged again. "She's throwing up again."

"He's coming, Cole" Rose said, patting my back.

"Okay, I'll take her to the office and get her bag," she said as I heard the phone click.

Rose left for a few minutes, and then returned with my bag. She walked me to the main office.

"Oh, hello, dears. Cole, your father just called. He'll be here soon. Take a seat and I'll get you some water," Ms. Grady said.

Rose led me to a chair and sat down next to me as Ms. Grady handed her the cup, which I sipped from. When the lunch bell rang, Emmett came in.

"You two should get to class," Ms. Grady said.

"We are. I'll see you at home, shorty. It's gonna be okay," Emmett told me, wrapping me in a hug before he and Rose left.

I ducked my head between my knees for about five minutes until I heard the door chime and a cold hand on my back.

"I'm here, _tesoro_," Carlisle said, kissing my forehead.

I lifted my head and watched him sign me out. Ms. Grady actually asked for his ID, not believing this was _the _Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Even though he was in green scrubs with a hospital ID attached to his pocket.

"Sorry, Dr. Cullen — procedure. I'm sure you understand," she told him, batting her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes in disgust, wanting to puke again.

"No problem. If she's not able to come in tomorrow, it won't be a problem if my son picks up her school work, will it?" he asked.

"Not at all. Feel better, dear," she said as I stood up.

Carlisle threw my pink bag over his shoulder and put his hand on my back, leading me out to the shiny black Mercedes parked out front. He opened my door and I slid in.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	37. Chapter 37

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

As far as first days go, Cole had a pretty bad one, to say the least. Horrible, to be honest. When I got in to work this morning, I made it clear to my chief resident that I would not be scrubbing in on any surgeries, unless absolutely necessary. I made myself look busy with charts and paperwork — which I did have to do — in case Cole needed me.

The first call came around eleven-thirty, and it wasn't even Cole. It was Alice. She was forewarning me that Cole had become sick during her fourth period, and I needed to call and check on her. She had a flashback. That in itself was worrisome, but what she flashed back to was even more so. Esme and I had talked about whether or not being around kids her age would make her remember what happened in her last foster home — with teenage boys. It had, and she was in a situation that made her remember.

After talking to her, she didn't want me to come get her. I was proud in that moment. Cole was trying, and she hadn't given up when things became difficult. Little did either of us know, she wasn't alone in the bathroom. Someone had heard our conversation, and during lunch, the girl had told her friends. Emmett and Rose overheard, and of course, Cole demanded to know what was said. Emmett told her.

I wasn't angry that Emmett told her. We needed to stop keep secrets. If we had learned one thing, it was that secrets did not help Cole. We couldn't protect her from the truth. Unfortunately, this revelation cause Cole to get sick again. I knew very well that sometimes, if a human is stressed or anxious enough, they can become nauseous and sick to their stomach — which Cole was. Rose called me this time, and Cole wanted to come home. The stress had done her in. I knew this right when I saw her in the school office. She looked mentally and physically exhausted, sitting in the plastic chair.

"I'm here, _tesoro_," I said, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

I walked over the receptionist and asked to sign Cole out. She asked for my ID, so I pulled my wallet out of my scrub pant pocket and gave it to her.

"Sorry, Dr. Cullen — procedure. I'm sure you understand," she told me, batting her eyelashes. I heard Cole's quiet groan at the flirting older woman. It didn't faze me, but obviously, Cole didn't like it.

"No problem. If she's not able to come in tomorrow, it won't be a problem if my son picks up her school work, will it?" I asked, tucking the driver's license back into my wallet.

I didn't know how Cole would react with what happened today. I wished she would be strong enough to try again, but I couldn't blame her if she wasn't. I wanted the school to think she was ill in case she couldn't manage to come back. We'd figure out a long term plan, if needed.

"Not at all. Feel better, dear," she said to Cole.

I nodded and went back over to Cole, taking her bag and sliding it over my shoulder. I placed a hand on her back as we started walking out. The main reason was to comfort her, but I also wasn't entirely sure if her balance would hold up, so I wanted to be able to grab her, if needed. She managed to make it outside to the car. I unlocked it and opened her door, closing it after she slid in. I retreated to the driver's side, tossing her bag in the back seat before starting the car.

I didn't miss the salty scent permeating though the sedan. She was crying. I put the car in fourth gear, knowing I could take my hand away now, and held it out for her — resting it lightly on the edge of her seat, after lightly touching her knee to get her attention. She quickly took my hand, squeezing it as tightly as she could without hurting herself.

"It's all right, baby," I said.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I'm not angry at all, darling. You tried. You went to school today like I asked, and tried. You stayed after getting sick once, and even if you hadn't wanted to come home, I would have wanted you to. You look exhausted. I think you could use a nap," I said, caressing my thumb over the top of her hand.

"I am really tired."

"You've had quite the emotional day. If you weren't tired, I'd be concerned."

I glanced over at her. She rested her head rested against the window. Her right hand was tucked under her chin, against her neck. Her cheeks were puffy and red. There were small smudges of mascara right under her eyes. She hadn't bothered to wipe her tears, so they were drying on her cheeks and down to her jaw. The little drops of liquid landed on her top and shorts.

The ride home was relatively silent. She asked when I needed to be back at work — I didn't today. Doing paperwork had freed up my entire day. I had brought it with me from the hospital, so I could finish it at home before work tomorrow.

When I pulled into the garage, Esme was waiting. She opened Cole's door and helped her out and upstairs to her bedroom. I went to the kitchen and filled a glass with cool water for Cole, before following them up with her backpack. Emmett was going to retrieve Cole's fifth and six period work, but she had the rest in the pink sack.

The door was closed when I got up to her room. Esme was going through a drawer — pulling materials out — while Cole was clearly in the bathroom washing her face. Esme knocked on the bathroom door and it opened. Cole took the materials, which I presumed to be sweatpants and a shirt, and then the door shut once more. Esme swung the bedroom door open for me and I walked in, placing the glass on Cole's wooden sideboard that was attached to her bed.

Esme pulled the made up bed down as I set Cole's bag down by her desk. When Cole came out of the bathroom, she wore a coral colored t-shirt and bright, lime green sweatpants. Esme held the sheet and top blanket up as Cole crawled in, grabbing the pillow with a squirrel on it and holding it to her chest. I never understood her fondness of the small pillow, but since she and Esme went shopping for her room things, she's loved it.

"I brought you some water, _tesoro_. I'd like you to drink some for me," I told her.

"I have a headache. Can I have something?" she asked softly.

Of course, she had a headache. Retching her guts out and sobbing would cause that.

"Of course. I'll be right back."

I ran to my study across the hall from her room. I had made certain my study was near Cole's room. It was where I spent most of my time at night, so I wanted to be as close as possible to her. I opened one of the metal drawers, and found the Ibuprofen. Spilling two in my hand, I closed the bottle and replaced it before going back to Cole. After swallowing the pills, Esme and I left her alone to nap. We sat in my study as I quickly finished my paperwork.

"What are we going to do?" Esme asked.

"We're going to talk to Cole when she wakes up. I don't think taking her out of school is the right choice. She needs human interaction, but I realize it's going to be difficult for her. My biggest concern is her physical symptoms from anxiety. We can't have her vomiting every day. It's not healthy and will only hurt her worse in the end."

"So, what do we do about that?"

"I've been reading up on Beta blockers. It's a medication that's mostly used to treat medical problems such as cardiac issues. But it can be used to help ease physical symptoms from anxiety disorders. It won't change her emotions that go along with the anxiety, but if we can control her physical symptoms, she'll be able to go to school and try to work through her issues. The main thing is talk therapy. Talking about what's causing her to become so anxious and upset is the only real solution. I just worry she won't talk to me like I need her to."

"She knows she can talk to you about anything."

"About being molested? What she felt? Why it's affecting her now? I don't know if she will. Most girls won't talk to a male about that."

"I'm here for when she can't talk to you. So is Rose, and you know she can talk to Rose about what she went through."

"I think Rose is our best option. Cole can open up to her."

"And school?"

"I fear she'll be reluctant to go. Knowing that someone heard her say she had a flashback and was in foster care, might make it harder for her to want to go. Teens aren't exactly known for their compassion."

"You think they'll… make fun of her?"

"They'll form their own opinions quickly. I'd hope none of them would be so callous to try and hurt Cole, but I don't know," I said as I heard the sound of Cole shifting on her mattress. Her breathing picked up and heart rate increased. "She's waking up."

"Should we talk in here or in there?"

"I want her room to remain a safe place — a haven — so I think talking in here would be better. Emmett and Rose should be home soon. We can wait for them if she'd like."

Esme left my study, and a few minutes later she and Cole walked back in. I had moved over to the leather sofa and she sat down beside me with Esme on the other side of her.

"How's your headache?" I asked first.

"Better. The nap helped."

"Good. Do you mind talking for a little bit?"

"About school?"

"Yes."

"I have to go back tomorrow, don't I?"

"Jumping back in might make it easier, but if you want, you can stay home tomorrow."

"No, might as well get it over with… but I'm scared, daddy," she said, looking up to me as tears filled her eyes.

I rubbed her back, softly, trying to comfort her. "I know, baby girl, but I have something that might help with your nerves and anxiety."

She huff. "Erase my memory?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, but I'd like to try giving you a Beta blocker. It's a medication. One I'm not comfortable with giving you every day. It's more of a take as needed type of thing. It's not going to fix your anxiety, but it will help calm your nerves, your nausea, and panic attacks — the physical symptoms of anxiety. If we can take care of those, I think it will be easier to work through the anxiety."

"How do I do that?"

"Talking — exposer to the cause. I think you have a social anxiety. When you get around other people, you get nervous. Social anxiety is very common, but yours is quite severe, meaning it interrupts normal everyday life."

"I can survive vampires trying to kill me, but not normal humans? Great, I'm a freak show," she mumbled.

"Not at all. Like I said, social anxiety is normal, but coupled with your PTSD, it makes living a little difficult. I truly believe we can get through this."

"But what about the kids at school? That girl told people what I said on the phone. They'll talk about me. They'll think I'm weird."

"And I'm afraid that's something you'll have to deal with. You can ignore them, or if they say something, you can confront them. They have no right to talk about something they don't know anything about."

"Like that would stop them," she said as I heard the Jeep rumble towards the house. Emmett and Rose were home.

"Emmett and Rose are home," I said, for her benefit.

"Do you think they listened to what people were saying about me?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. They'll tell you whatever they heard."

"Maybe if I know what people are saying, I can come up with a good excuse."

"We'll figure it out."

A few moments passed before they came into my study.

"God, I hate high school!" Rose huffed.

"Me too," Cole whispered.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better, what… what are people saying?"

"That Matt kid came up to me in PE," Emmett said. "He asked if you were all right. I told him you've had the flu and you're not quite over it. He didn't mention to me about what was said during lunch, but I heard him and a few kids talking. They think you're odd, but most of them don't care. They said they don't know you and don't care what's going on."

"Good," Cole sighed in relief.

"Yeah, and that Sarah girl wanted me to tell you she hopes you feel better. Here's her cell phone number." He passed her a torn piece of paper. "She wanted you to know, if you have any questions you can call her. She seems nice."

"Who's Sarah?" I asked.

"She's new too. We have some classes together," Cole said.

"Was she, by any chance, supposed to be in your fifth period?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You can always ask her what you missed. Emmett said she seems nice. I'm sure she'll fill you in on anything."

"Good idea. Um, what kind of medical problems did you tell the school I have?"

"For the most part, the truth. You have no spleen, so you tend to contract infections easily. I told them you've been ill for the past few days, and it was possible you'd need to come home is all. You do have no spleen, so it's not a lie. And you did need to come home."

"Yeah, well I'm gonna get started on those pre-test things. I have some reading to do, as well," she said, standing up.

I joined her, wrapping my arms around her before kissing her head.

"All right, if you need help, let us know. I love you, _tesoro_."

"Love you too, but I'm not allowed to get help. It's a test to see what _I_ know."

"Ah, of course, well, good luck," I said as she walked towards the door.

Rose and Esme left shortly after. Emmett stayed, obviously wanting to talk.

"I need to call this prescription in. Hopefully, it will allow her to stay calm," I said, turning to my desk and picking up the phone.

"What are you giving her?" Emmett asked.

"Beta blockers, as needed of course, but I think it will help."

"You know those aren't technically approved to treat anxiety, but they might help on a short term basis."

"I know. But you agree that they might help?"

"Not a solution, but they'll keep her from killing people as she runs to the bathroom to throw up."

"That bad?"

He smirked. "Some kid didn't get lunch today. It was on the floor."

"It's not funny."

"Not the cause, but the kid on the ground with his food was hilarious. It looked like someone kicked his puppy." He laughed as I dialed the pharmacy number.

The prescription would be ready shortly. I didn't want Cole to need medications, but I also didn't want her life to stop from not being able to function through her anxiety. She took Ativan at night if she woke up from nightmares. She almost always had a panic attack, and it was the easiest way to calm her and get her to go back to sleep. But I only let her have one if she panics, so it's as needed — once, maybe twice a week. Still, more times than I'd like.

"I think Rose might be the best person for Cole to speak with. Cole has a lot of things to work through. Things she needs to talk about, and I doubt she'll want to talk to me or you," I told Emmett.

"Considering the fact you had to hold me back when I found out about what Mark did to her, it's probably not a good idea for her to talk to me."

"I agree. She'll think she's upsetting you, and close herself off. It might be best if Cole and Rose spoke in private without us nearby."

"Hey, Rosie, can you come in here?" Emmett called.

Seconds later Rose walked in, taking a seat on Emmett's knee.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Cole's going to have to talk to someone if she wants to work through her issues. She won't talk to me and having her talk to Emmett wouldn't be the best idea, given his reaction to what Mark did," I said. "Would you mind going shopping and talking to her? I think she'll open up more without us near."

"Of course, but what about Esme?"

"She won't want to upset her, and she'll think telling her what all she went through, will. Which it will. I know it will upset you, as well, but I was hoping you'd be able to hide your emotions."

"I will. She'll talk to me, Carlisle. I have a plan." She smiled.

"What are you planning?"

"Shopping, a nice spa trip… girl things. I'll take her to dinner somewhere nice and quiet, where we can talk in private."

"Sounds like a good plan. Just don't go overboard," I told her, knowing full well it was no use. At least Alice wasn't going.

I went up to Cole's room after getting home from the pharmacy. She was lying on her stomach on her bed with a tray in front of her, which a stack of papers rested on. A book was open by her side, and she held a pen in her left hand. She didn't notice me in the doorway. Her feet were moving a pillow around, mindlessly, as she concentrated on the school work in front of her.

"The first day of school… and I have homework!" she huffed to herself.

"Still nothing I can help with?" I asked as her head snapped up and she smiled, moving the tray away from her as she sat up on her knees.

"Not unless you want to recap Beowulf to me. Really, I only need to know what happens in lines one to three-hundred." She smirked.

"First, you need to know about Shield Sheafson. A great king of the ancient Danes, and the founder of their royal line. He began life as a foundling…" I began as she started laughing.

"Kidding. I should probably read the book."

"It's very good, but technically it's a poem, not a book," I told her as she moved her backpack and I sat down.

"It's older than you, right?"

"Much. Not a lot of things can say that," I teased.

She smirked. "Dirt?"

"Ha! Hilarious," I told her, pulling her close and pinning her to my side as I assaulted her head with kisses and tickled her side. "Take it back," I told her as she giggled and squirmed.

"Nope."

She laughed, wiggling her arms to wrap around my stomach. I loosened my grip and just held her as she rested her head right above my non-beating heart.

"Thank you for coming today. For talking to me," she said.

"You're very welcome, sweetie. How are feeling about tomorrow?"

"Scared to death, but I'll be okay. You're number one on my speed dial, mom's second and Rose and Em will be close by. Are you sure it's all right to call you? What if you're in surgery?"

"Then a nurse or tech will put the phone to my ear. Unless I'm running a code, I'll answer that phone," I told her. "And if I don't answer, I will call you back as soon as I can pass the code to another doctor."

"I can call mom. She'll always help me."

"Of course, she will. And if something happens like it did today and you need to come home, we'll come get you. Our only expectation is that you try. As long as you try, we're happy," I said, kissing her head again.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	38. Chapter 38

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

First days, suck. Capital s…u…c…k, suck. But second days give you another chance. My second day at school was great. Okay, not great, but a vast improvement over the first. Maybe it was the medicine Carlisle gave me, but overall I felt good. I didn't panic or throw up. I was able to stay all day without calling Carlisle once. Sarah was a big help. She was my friend… Like an actual friend. I had a friend. Someone my own age. Someone my own species!

We were partners in Biology and sat together in every class we shared. She filled me in on what I missed, and never asked about what happened — just if I was okay. Matt on the other hand, did ask. I just told him I had the flu and thought I was over it, but wasn't, so I needed to go home. When he asked about my phone call, I just told him I didn't want to talk about it. He didn't bug me about it, thank God.

It was finally Friday, and Monday we don't have school because of Labor Day, so I got a three day weekend. Tonight, Carlisle, Emmett, and Rose were leaving to head up to Alaska to visit with Josh, Alice, and Jasper. Rose and I were pushing our Seattle trip back to Sunday. They would all be home early that day, and then we would go shopping. I wasn't stupid. I knew why we were going, and it wasn't for the shopping. Carlisle wanted us to talk. Wanted me to talk. I guess it was time to. I mean, I was sure if vampires hadn't tried to kill me, we would have talked about this a lot sooner. Or Carlisle would have put me in therapy. At least it was Rose and not some stranger. She knew how it felt and I can relate. She also had this way of getting me to say things I didn't really want to, but need to.

"What time's everyone leaving?" I asked as I sat at the bar eating my cereal next to Carlisle, who was reading one of his bazillion newspapers he got each morning.

Esme was already starting to bake for some bake sale the school was doing for the football team. She joined the PTA, and God knows what other school things like sports boosters. A little weird considering none of her kids were on any athletic teams, but she liked to bake, and was really good at it. Besides it was for something good and Esme liked to do good things.

"I'm taking off a little early, so once you guys get off of school we'll go. Are you sure you don't mind donating some blood?" Carlisle asked.

He and Jasper had been trying to think of ways to expose Josh to my scent without me actually being there. They came up with taking a little blood and using it to "desensitize" Josh. They had already tried clothes, but those just had my scent, not my blood. If Josh was ever going to be able to be around me, he had to be able to control himself around my blood.

"Na. Stick me, nick me, squeeze me dry, as long as I get to see Josh soon."

"Well, we certainly will not "squeeze" you dry, _tesoro_. Just a little blood will hopefully do."

"What if he loses it, and you know… drinks the blood?"

"Then we'll keep trying. I expect it to take another year before he can actually be near you. Be near any humans, really. But Josh is committed to this lifestyle. He has no desire to hurt humans, which is a lot better than most vampires his age."

"What do you mean?"

"Most vampires, once turned, don't care about human life. If they're thirsty, which they constantly are for the first few years, they'll kill. Though Josh hasn't been exposed to human blood yet, I don't think he wants to kill. He's kept a very level head about this. Hunting every day is keeping his thirst at bay, so it's safer just in case. Alice has, of course, been able to prevent Josh from accidently coming in contact with a human, but one day he will. And I think… if he can keep his level head, he'll want to run away. I don't know if he'll be able to, at least not yet."

"So, a good old blood draw after school?"

"If you want to."

"It's a date, daddy. I want to be able to see Josh in person, and I'll do anything I can to help," I said, shoving another spoonful of Coco Pebbles in my mouth before lifting the bowl to drink the chocolaty milk.

"So your birthday is in a little over a month. Any ideas of what you want to do?" Esme asked, taking the bowl from the counter and washing it in the sink. It was drying on the rack before I could blink.

"No, I haven't even thought about it. You know, besides the fact I can get my permit once I take a driver's Ed course. I can still sign up for the class that starts soon." I smiled.

"No," Carlisle said.

"What?"

"No. You are too young to drive. I will not let you take the class and I will not let you get a permit yet."

I huffed. "That's not fair."

"What's not fair is seeing a teenager on my operating table because they were too inexperienced to start driving. What's even more not fair is watching a teenager die."

"You can't use that excuse."

"It's not an excuse; it's part of my job. You're too young. Besides ,driving really isn't that much fun."

"Bull."

"You're too young."

"I'll be fifteen!"

"And when your eighteen, we'll discuss this again. Until then, you are not driving. Accept it," he said, kissing my forehead before picking up another newspaper.

"Uh," I moaned.

"He's just trying to keep you safe, honey," Esme said, bending down to my ear. "I'll talk to him."

"You won't change my mind," he said as she kissed my cheek and pulled away.

"Damn vampire hearing," I mumbled, scooting off my stool. "Emmett, Rose!" I yelled.

I heard their door open, and Emmett's large foot steps down the stairs. When I saw him, he looked entirely to happy. When I saw Rose, she was fixing her hair.

"Horney bastards," I groaned.

"Language," Esme warned.

"One day, little sis, you'll know how great it is to be in love. You see, when you love someone like Rose and I do—"

I cut Emmett off. "Stop talking," I said, covering my ears.

"You'll make sweet, sweet love all the time!" he yelled.

"Eww!" I screamed, grabbing my book bag.

"Emmett," Carlisle warned ,putting his paper down.

He took my book bag from me and set it on the counter, opening the front pocket as he slipped a pill bottle from his pocket.

"There are two pills in here," he said. "Only take them if you need them."

"We've done this every day, dad. I know, take them with water, only take one, and wait at least two hours for the other if I still feel I need it."

"And call me if you feel odd. Keep an eye out for side effects," he said, zipping the pocket back up with the plain pill bottle inside.

"I know. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Have a good day, and I will see you after school for our venipuncture appointment." He smiled.

Besides the first day, we had always arrived at school just after seven-thirty. Emmett parked against a wall near the entrance, since the lot wasn't full like it was the first day. Since Wednesday, I got out before he and Rose and go see Sarah, who sat by the door with a book. Sarah always wore her brown hair down with a headband holding her bangs back. She's skinny, but tall. So compared to me, she's a giant at 5'7. Seriously, she's two inches from being a foot taller than me. We were both quiet and wanted to blend in, so we were a lot alike. We both liked reading, and would rather read our textbooks than run in PE.

"Hey!" I said as she looked up, put her book in her bag, and moved it so I could sit down.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Not much. Hey, how far are you into Beowulf?"

"I stopped at line 1924 last night. What about you?"

"I'm up through 2210. It's actually a really good epic poem. I like it."

"Yeah, me too. At the rate we're going, we'll be done by the end of next week. The paper isn't even due until the end of September." She laughed.

"I know, right? We'll have our papers done before everyone's half way."

"We can just proof-read each other's, if you want. I'll do yours and you do mine. Maybe Mrs. Fields will let us start on the next book early."

"I hope so, otherwise, I'll have to find something in my dad's library to keep me occupied."

"At least he's not a pastor that has more versions of the bible than any church. I swear, if I read the bible one more time, I'll combust." She laughed. "You're lucky your dad has an actual library."

"You should come over sometime. He'll let you borrow anything you want."

"As long as you don't think he'll mind, I'd love to come over," she said just as the first bell rang.

Emmett and Rose were making their way toward us as we put our bags back over our shoulders.

"Hey, Sarah!" Emmett said with a grin.

"Hey Emmett, Rosalie. Cole said something about you guys going camping. I hope you have fun," Sarah said.

"Oh, we will. Trust me; we will." Rose laughed, hugging Emmett's arm.

"Oh, Cole, by the way that talk about Carlisle not letting you drive, it has nothing to do with you being too young. You're just so short you wouldn't be able to reach the pedals. He just didn't think it would be nice to tell you that." Emmett laughed.

"I can reach the pedals!" I said as we walked into the school.

"I think your technically a midget." He grinned.

"That's like 4'8, full grown. I'm 4'9 and still growing, so shut up," I said, hitting his arm.

Sarah and Rose were laughing their butts off as we walked toward our lockers. Somehow, we were lucky enough to have lockers near each other. Not right next to each other. but still in the same hallway.

I didn't know why, but school went by agonizingly slow today. And PE was the worst. We had to run five times around the school. Cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me, but that was all we had to do. And as long as we finished five laps, the coach didn't care if we ran or walked, but if you didn't go around five times, you failed for the day. We had to do this every Friday. Emmett and I stayed together, but he made me jog, so I kinda hated him right now. But when we finished, which we did early, we got to sit down on the bleachers. Finally, after changing back into my clothes, the bell rang and the day was over. I made it through my first week of high school, and today, I didn't even take a pill!

Carlisle was already home when we got there. He was in his study waiting for me, with my favorite thing… A needle. I kept chanting over and over in my head that this was for Josh. Josh needed my help and one little needle wasn't going to hurt that bad. Just a pinch, and then it would be over. You'd think after God knows how many injections and needles that have gone into me, I'd lose my fear, but nope. I'm still nervous every time someone mentioned a needle. I put my stuff away and changed into a pair of sweatpants, before walking across the hall to Carlisle's study.

Like I thought, sitting on his desk was his equipment. The tubes, alcohol wipes, gauze, tape, gloves, and of course, the needle attached to the weird plastic holder. When I walked in, Carlisle looked up from his file on his desk with a smile.

"How was school, _tesoro_?" he asked, standing up and picking up the tray with his things.

I went ahead and sat down on the couch. He put the tray on the coffee table and sat down on it in front of me.

"Good. I didn't take a pill."

He smiled more. "That's great, baby. How did you feel? Did you ever consider taking one?" he asked, fiddling with his stuff as he pulled the gloves on with a snap. Must he do that?

"Not really. I did a little at lunch, but that's because people were looking at me. But I didn't get nauseous or panicky at all. I felt really good all day."

"Wonderful. Which arm?" he asked as I put my right one out in front of me.

He took it gently, and ripped open the alcohol swab, cleansing the crease of my elbow with it.

"Yeah. I was also wondering, would you and Esme mind if Sarah came over sometime? We were talking about books, and how pretty soon we'll finish Beowulf and won't have anything to read until after September. I told her I'd have to come borrow a book from you, and I thought maybe she could borrow one?"

I watched his face while he wrapped a tourniquet around my arm. He was grinning like crazy.

"That sounds like an amazing idea. Your friend can come over whenever she wants, as long as her parents are all right with it. You two can borrow as many books as you'd like. I still have a lot boxed up in the basement that were shipped from Minnesota, but my favorites are in here," he said as he grabbed the needle part and a tube with one hand and poked a vein with his finger of the other hand. "Slight pinch, baby. Just breath and watch my face."

My eyes moved back to his face and away from the suddenly giant needle. I felt the tiny sting, and heard him click the first tube into the adapter. Once it was full, he clicked it out and put another in.

"How much blood do you need?" I asked, watching his eyes concentrate on my arm.

"I'm taking four vials. We're going to empty one onto a shirt of yours and let it dry. Try that first, and then expose Josh to fresh blood by popping the cap off. Jasper is going to keep the rest to keep exposing him over time. I'd like to take more the next time we visit. A lot more, actually. I'd like to take a pint or so, but I'll only take half a pint from you each time over a few weeks. It would be more like donating blood instead of having it drawn," he said, clicking the last tube in place.

"How many pints do I have?" I asked, curious.

"Roughly eight. With your age, it may be slightly less. That's why I can only take half a pint at a time with time in between. Your body will replenish your supply, but it takes time."

"How many pints did I need when my spleen ruptured?"

He frowned. "Your entire volume needed to be replaced, so eight pints. You were very close to dying."

"I know, but I didn't. I'm better than ever, actually." I smiled as he placed a piece of gauze over the needle and pulled it out of my arm.

He bent my elbow and started cleaning up quickly. He put the blood in a mini cooler by his desk. and then threw the used supplies away before sitting back down in front of me.

"You are better than ever. Especially since we found you. You've gained a few pounds to put you in a healthy range with your height and age. You've come a long way, _tesoro,_ and I couldn't be prouder." He taped down a new piece of gauze to my arm. "All done. Thank you." He smiled.

"You're welcome. I hope this works."

"I think it will. Now, let's go downstairs. I think Emmett and Rose are ready to go," he said grabbing the small cooler and leading me downstairs.

Carlisle and Esme spent a good ten minutes murmuring in Italian that they loved each other and what not, before they all left and it was just me and Esme in the big house. She hugged my shoulders as we waved goodbye and watched them run through the forest. They would be in Alaska really late tonight, and back home early Sunday. Esme and I walked back into the house, toward the kitchen where she had cupcakes that she was boxing up. I slid on a stool and started helping her, not that she needed it.

"So, what exactly are these for?" I asked, sneaking a cupcake.

She just smiled as I bit into it. The frosting was all cream cheesy and sugary. So yummy. And the cupcake I got was actually carrot cake — my favorite.

"Carrot cake cupcakes?" I asked.

"I also made red velvet cake cupcakes, devil's food, angel cake, and all kinds of varieties. They're for the football team. They'll sell them at the game tonight, and the proceeds go to buying new equipment. I have to drop them off. Would you like to come with?"

"Sure, just let me sneak a few more." I grinned.

"There's a few in the fridge for you already. You think I'd make carrot cake and not leave some just for you?"

"I'd hope not. That would make me really, really, really sad," I teased.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	39. Chapter 39

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Esme's POV**

Cole helped me load the copious number of cupcakes into my car, before we headed to the school to drop them off with the head of the booster club. I truly loved baking, and with the kids in school, it gave me the perfect excuse. I joined the PTA, and from there, was asked to do other things. I felt so human — I was a PTA mom. I had never done it before with the other children because we tried at all costs to stay away from attention, but with Cole in our lives, I could do the things human mothers did, and I loved it!

I couldn't help but think about how much better our lives were because of her. Emmett smiled brighter, Rose was kinder, Carlisle was a new man, and I was just thrilled. One little human had forever changed our lives.

When we pulled into the mile long driveway, I decided to stop. Carlisle certainly wouldn't agree with what I was about to do, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. I'd tell him, just not right now.

"Why are we stopping?" Cole asked.

"Do not tell your father this. I will when he gets home, but I was thinking about what you said this morning. You're right. You're going to be fifteen, and you should have the chance to learn how to drive. So, I'm letting you drive home. The road is a little windy, but if you go slow — which I'll help you with — I think you can do it." I smiled as she started grinning.

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, mommy. You're so amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed as I opened my door and got out.

She did the same, running over to the driver's side.

"All right, the first thing you need to do is adjust your seat and mirrors," I said.

Her hand reached down to the buttons on the side of the seat and she moved forward and up quite a bit, until her feet reached the pedals and she could see over the wheel.

Next, I showed her how to move the mirrors. "Check your mirror. Can you see?"

"Yeah. Oh, my God! I can't believe I'm going to drive!" she squealed once more, making me giggle.

"Good. Now press this button in." I showed her the ignition button. "And then move the shifter to drive." I showed her the shifter. "Press the break in," I added. "Now ease gently off the brake and very, very gently touch the gas."

My hand rested on the wheel above her right one. Just in case she started to swerve. She eased up on the break and tapped the gas. We lunged forward, and she slammed the break in a panic.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm _so_ sorry!" she said.

"It's all right, try again. Very lightly tap the gas, just a touch." She tried again and we inched forward slowly. "Good. Give it a little more gas and keep the car straight."

She pressed the gas harder and, once again, we lunged forward. She slammed the break again.

"Can I try again please?" she asked.

"Of course. Go again."

This time, she did it and managed to get up to five miles an hour, very slowly. Until the first curve came.

"When do I turn? Do I turn now?" she asked, panicking as she slowed down.

"Go ahead and start turning. I'll help you." I turned the wheel slightly with her. "Little more gas," I said. "Great."

We finished turning and I helped her straighten the wheel out.

"Can I go a little faster?"

"Just a little. Try fifteen miles an hour." She picked up speed too quickly before easing off the gas abruptly, and then tapped the gas again. "Steady your foot."

It took a few stops, but we made it to the front of the house. I went ahead and parked for her, but she did well for her first time ever driving. I was proud.

"So, does this mean you're going to talk to dad and convince him to let me take the Driver's Ed course?" Cole asked as we walked up the stairs to the main level.

"I will speak with him, but he does have his reasons, sweetie. I know they seem ridiculous to you, but he's seen a lot of kids your age hurt badly from car accidents. I don't think it's him not believing you'd be a good, safe driver. I think he worries more about other driver's. Humans can be reckless. They drive aggressively, dangerously, inebriated, and they don't pay attention. It's those people he's worried about. The people he can't control," I said as we settle on the couch in the living room.

"He has to let me grow up, though."

"You're his baby — his little girl. You'll always be that to him."

"Even if I'm a vampire?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"You guys loved me so quickly, why?"

"You're ours. We knew it the second we met you in that alley. I can't explain it, but you were always supposed to be ours. It was fate we were there that weekend. We weren't even supposed to be, but you know that."

"And you've loved me ever since, but what I don't get is why me? Did you guys ever meet another human that you might have loved as your child?"

"With Carlisle's line of work, he's come across many children that might have needed us, but he's never felt that pull before. Neither have I. You're special; it's that simple, my dear." I smiled.

"The only simple thing about me." She chuckled. "Seriously, your lives got really complicated with me. You guys never really thought it might be easier to have taken me to a hospital?"

"Never ever… No matter what difficulties we've faced, that's one choice neither of us would have changed if we had the chance."

"I wouldn't change anything I've gone through. Because if I did, I wouldn't have found my parents. I'd go through it all again to have you guys."

As Cole ate her dinner, we both sat in the kitchen making idle conversation. She told me all about school and her friend Sarah — whom I couldn't wait to meet. She told me about Emmett forcing her to jog today, goading her to keep going when she didn't want to, and the few times he caught her when she tripped. I loved that Emmett and Rose went back to school for Cole. I don't think she could have done it without them. She even told me about Emmett scaring a teenage boy away from her. I giggled, but I felt somewhat bad. With Emmett as her brother and Carlisle as her father, she might never be able to meet boys. I wasn't looking forward to the day when she wanted to date. It would be close to impossible to calm Carlisle down, and I doubted there would be anything I could do to help her with that.

After a Cole had her shower, we sat down in the living room for a movie. I braided her hair how she liked it — in the two french braids — as we watched the adorable, romantic comedy she picked out. Around eleven, she made her way upstairs and quickly fell asleep — promising to do her homework tomorrow. Not that I was concerned; I knew she'd get it done. I stepped out on the deck and looked to the sky. Surprisingly, there were no clouds and the stars shinned bright.

When I heard someone — a vampire — running closer, I panicked. We certainly were not expecting any guests. I crouched, ready to pounce the second the being came into view. I wasn't going to stop and ask questions — not after last time. Suddenly, the wind changed and a scent filled my nose. A wonderful scent of clean linen and pine — Carlisle's scent. When he appeared and took notice of my stance, he smirked.

"Where you going to attack me?" he asked as I leaped from my crouch into his arms.

"Maybe. What are doing here?"

"The hospital called. They need me to cover the ER for the weekend. Apparently, a few staff members indulged themselves on cake with icing that must have spoiled. I had to come back."

"Oh, I hope they're okay," I said as he chuckled.

"I'm sure they won't have a pleasant weekend, but they'll be fine. Is Cole asleep?"

"Sleeping like a baby. I need to talk to you about her," I said as he carried me inside.

"Is she all right? Did she get hurt? Is she sick? Have you taken her temperature? What is it?" he asked entirely too fast, giving me no chance to interrupt him as he started making his way upstairs. I stopped him before he could reach the second stair.

"She's fine. It's about this morning."

"About driving? Esme, please, I just want to keep her safe. You know that."

"She drove today."

"What? Esme, she could have been killed! And I wasn't here to save her. What if something had happened?" He gasped — his expression one of shock, hurt, and a little anger, but mostly hurt.

"Carlisle, please, come sit and talk. I want to talk about this and make a decision we all can live with. You have your reasons, and I understand them, but she has some as well that I think you need to know."

I took a step back and he followed down the stairs and took my hand, taking the lead to the couch. He plopped down, sighing exasperatedly, and rubbing his face with his hand.

"I just want to keep her safe," he sighed after a few minutes

He looked up to me and squeezed my hand.

"I know that."

"Does she?"

"Of course, but we have to let her grow up sometime."

"We just got her. She's just a child."

"She is our child, but she's not _a_ child. She'll be fifteen — a young woman. With that, comes certain rights of passage. This is one of them."

"She's not a young woman. She's a girl; my little girl."

"Carlisle, we weren't lucky enough to have her for fifteen years before she reached this point. It breaks my heart knowing the years we missed out. I would give anything to have given birth to her, to have held her in our arms after bringing her into this world, to have seen her first smile or laugh, watch her take that first step, kissed her first boo-boo that you would have patched up. I could just see her on a kitchen counter in a helmet with a bloody knee." I smiled. "Me holding her hand as you cleaned the cut and smiled up at her, telling her "doctor daddy" fixed everything up just right. I want those moments, I do, but we can't have them. So now, we need to focus on the moments we do have."

His eyes closed tight and a sad smile formed on his lips. I was sure he was picturing the moment I just painted.

"Today, seeing her in the driver's seat for the first time, so unaware of everything, needing someone to guide her, was a moment that we can have. It's something we can teach her. Something she can learn from us. A moment we'll always have," I said, smiling.

"I want those fifteen years," he whispered.

"We can't have them," I told him, sympathetically. "But we can take advantage of these years. The years that will mold her into a beautiful woman. Carlisle, do you know what she's been reading about online?"

"What?"

I smiled. "Medical schools and the steps she would need to take to become a doctor."

He chuckled. "She hates doctors."

"Have you ever asked her what she wants to be when she grows up?"

"I've never wanted to think about her growing up. She wants to be a doctor?"

I nodded. "She's a member of this forum online for teens that want to go into the medical field. Her name is MiniCullenMD." I laughed. "And in one post, she mentions you. You're her hero. The person she wants to be like. She talked about how amazing you are. How if she had one dream that could come true, it would be to be just like her daddy."

"I don't understand how that relates to her driving. And how do you know those things?"

"I may have seen the webpage up and accidently gone through her history." He laughed at me as I smirked. "I was curious. I know it was an invasion of privacy, but it's not like she was hiding anything. The computer was open and on when she left for school yesterday. I was just getting her laundry basket."

"Has she been talking to any boys?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as I laughed.

"No, no boys… yet."

"I'm still trying to figure out how that relates to driving."

"There are many moments that we can still share with her. Teaching her to drive is the first, and maybe someday you helping her apply to medical schools could be another. What I'm saying, is she needs our guidance. Driving can be both good and bad, but if we guide her, I know she'll be a good driver. Just like if you guide her to becoming a doctor, I know she'll be a great doctor. For her to achieve things, we have to loosen our grip. It's not like we can follow her through college and medical school."

He smirked. "We could."

"But she has to be able to do things on her own to become an adult. Driving is that first step. Let her take that first step, so we can watch all the amazing things she will do after."

"She takes that class first," he said. "She learns what it means to drive safe before we ever start the permit process. Once she gets it, she only drives with me or you, not Emmett or Rose. I want her to learn how to drive right, not like a manic. If I don't think she's ready to drive somewhere or in some type of weather, she has to respect that. It's our decision. This is a privilege, not a right. If I ever feel she isn't being as safe as she should be, she isn't driving again."

"Those seem like fair terms, and if she doesn't accept them, then no class or permit."

"When she gets her license, I pick the car and she can't complain."

"I'm sure she'll live with that, but we have another thirteen months before we ever have to think about that." I giggled.

"In that case, she can drive," he sighed as I leaned in and kissed him.

His lips tasted like Elk. Someone enjoyed a little fast-food on their way home. He pushed me back against the sofa, one hand roaming over my left side lifting my shirt as he went up higher. I giggled loudly.

"_Zittom amore mio. Noi non vorrebbe svegliarsi nostra figlia_." He chuckled with an evil grin as his hand ripped my shirt away.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Translations:**

Zittom amore mio. Noi non vorrebbe svegliarsi nostra figlia: Hush, my love. We wouldn't want to wake our daughter.

**Please Review…**


	40. Chapter 40

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

**Nightmare…**

_It's a tropical island, so why is it so cold? I look around for my family, for anyone, Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Josh… anyone. But no one's here. I'm all alone. The wind whips my hair everywhere as I take a step forward, still trying to find someone, anyone. Suddenly, I'm on the ground. Something pushed me down. I blink my eyes and look to see what did that. I'm met with a fierce pair of ruby red eyes. I'm scared._

"_You did this!" the creature yells. _

_I finally look at the being and, it's… Josh. Josh with red eyes and blood dripping from the corners of his mouth._

"_Josh, help me!" I cry, trying to get up, but I'm stuck. My legs won't move and my arms are pinned to my sides._

"_That was my mistake. No wonder people hurt you, because if they don't, you just hurt them! You killed me!" he screams._

"_You… you're a vampire!" I gasp. "Where… is everyone? Josh, what happened to you?" _

"_You did. My life was over the second I met you — just like theirs was. You killed them. They couldn't fight against William and his clan. If you had just died like you were supposed to so many times, then they'd be alive and happy. Do you want to see what you took from them?" he asks, reaching out to touch my arm. _

_I'm no longer on the island. I'm in a house — my house in Minnesota. Just past me on the sofa, Carlisle sits with Esme in his arms. He is smiling and laughing as they listen to Emmett tell some story._

"_Dad!" I yell, but he doesn't look up. "Mom?" She doesn't look up. either. I reach out to touch Carlisle's shoulder, and my hand… it goes right through him._

"_They can't hear you. You don't exist, you're just a ghost," Josh says, appearing beside me._

"_I… I'm dead?" _

"_You died in that alley like you were supposed to. They weren't there. They were never supposed to be there." _

"_No, it was fate! They were supposed to find me!" I scream. "They were supposed to save me." _

_I reach toward Carlisle again. Suddenly, he turns and his eyes met mine, but he didn't see me, he just turns back around with a smile._

"_See how much happier they are without you?" Josh asked._

"_No, they… they're not happier! Esme said—"_

"_Esme lied. They feel bad for you like I did. You ruined their lives, like you did mine. If you died, they'd be much better off."._

"_That's not true… Esme, tell him it's not true!" I scream. "Carlisle, daddy, please ,tell him!" _

_I scream and cry trying to get their attention. My throat is starting to get raw._

**End Nightmare…**

"Cole, wake up, sweetie. Wake up, baby girl," Esme said as I shoot up into a sitting position in bed.

My heart was pounding. My breathing quick and shallow. Through my tears, I noticed Esme beside me on my bed and Carlisle standing a foot away.

"Dad, why are you here?"

He was supposed to be in Alaska. Did something happen with Josh when they tried exposing him to my blood? Oh God, he wanted it. He couldn't resist. My breathing picked up even more and the familiar tingling began in my fingers and lips.

"The hospital called. I need to work the ER this weekend, so I came home. Try your breathing exercises for me, _tesoro_," he said as Esme began rubbing my back.

Deep breathe in through my nose, slow even breathe out through my mouth. I repeated that for a few minutes until I was calmed down. Well, calmed down enough.

"Are you all right, sweetie?" Esme asked, kissing my forehead.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"What was this one about?" Carlisle asked, now settled on the foot of my bed.

"Josh, err, well, not really Josh but… I mean he was there, but he showed me something. He said I was dead… That I should have died, and you shouldn't have found me in December. He said you guys would have been much… happier. That I… ruined," gasp, "his life and yours."

My breathing picked up again. Carlisle took my hand and kissed the top of it.

"Calm down, baby. It's all right. It was a nightmare. None of that is true. You know that, right?" he asked, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles as Esme kept rubbing my back.

"Can… can I please lay… with you guys?"

"Of course," Carlisle said, elegantly climbing on the bed to the other side of me, against my side board.

He propped a pillow up against the wall and rested his head on it, while I scooted down and laid on my side, resting my head on his stomach. Esme snuggled into my backside, resting her head on my shoulder, pulling the blanket up on me from the foot of the bed, since we all were lying on my covers.

"No pillow, _tesoro_?" Carlisle chuckled as I shook my head no into his stomach.

I didn't really care as long as they were near me. We laid like that for two hours, but I couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard I tried. Esme even tried humming to me, but sleep wouldn't come. It was now almost four in the morning.

"Can I go get something to drink?" I asked.

"I'll get you something. What would you like?" Esme asked, moving from her position.

"I want to get up, if you don't mind. It might make me tired."

"Okay, be careful."

I scooted past her and padded away on the wood floor. I went down the first set of stairs to the landing, and then the second. My left foot hit air and I tripped on the second to last step, landing with a thump on my head. I didn't get my hands out in time and jammed my left pinky backwards.

"Cole," Carlisle cried out.

He and Esme were racing down to me as I set up.

"I'm okay, but my finger hurts," I said, hissing in pain.

"I'm more worried about your head. Esme, would you grab my bag in my study, please? And turn the lights on. Thank you, love," Carlisle said, kneeling in front of me.

He lifted my chin and moved my head around, looking intently at my forehead. I didn't think I was bleeding, but I'd have a nice bump for sure.

"Here, Carlisle. Is she all right?" Esme asked, suddenly appearing beside me, handing Carlisle the tan leather bag.

He opened it up and pulled out a pen light, clicking it on and off, and then on again.

"Let's see. Cole, look at my face," he asked, shinning the damned pen in my eyes. "Equal and reactive pupils. Follow my finger." He put his left index finger up. I followed his finger to one side, then the other side, then up and down, and lastly, back and forth. "Good. Are you nauseous or dizzy?"

"No."

"Okay, no signs of a concussion or any other head trauma. I think you'll just have a nasty bump. Can you stand?"

I nodded, holding my right hand out. He helped pull me up and I walked forward — steadily.

"Good. Let's take a look at that finger, hmm?"

He guided me to the kitchen — my previous goal. I still wanted juice, which Esme must have known as she went to the cabinet and pulled out a glass as I sat down on the bar stool.

"What did you want to drink, honey?" she asked

"Cherry apple juice, please," I said, watching her head to the fridge, where Carlisle was just fishing out two ice packs. He wrapped them both in separate towels and handed me one.

"Forehead," he said as I pressed it against the knot and flinched from the cold. He took my left hand and examined my pinky. "It's not broken, but definitely dislocated. I can fix it one of two ways. Fast, in which it will hurt quite bad for a few moments once I reduce it, but then will feel better soon after, or I can give you a shot, let that start working, and then reduce it."

"No needles. Just… just do it," I said as he positioned his hands.

He held my hand with his left, put his right thumb over the swollen joint, and gripped my pinky.

"Take a deep breath. Do you want me to count?"

"Just do it," I said, taking a deep breath.

He waiting for a few seconds, and I was about to open my mouth to ask what was taking so long, when he yanked my finger and it popped loudly.

"Shi… tah… fudge… owwwww," I groaned along with a few vulgarities under my breath.

My joint still ached, but it definitely didn't hurt as bad as he taped it up to my ring finger, before gently applying the second ice pack. Esme set my juice down in front of me and rubbed my shoulder.

"Does it feel better, sweetie?" she asked.

"Much."

"Here," Carlisle said, handing me two pills. "Ones for inflammation, and the other a mild pain killer. Take them." I put the ice pack down from my forehead and took them, popping them in my mouth and quickly sipping juice to swallow them down. "I want you two to come to the hospital tomorrow during my lunch. I'd like an x-ray to be sure there are no breaks that I couldn't feel or hear, and then get you in an actual splint."

I looked at him with my eyebrows raised. We both knew he couldn't miss something like that, even minuscule as it might be, but I'd indulge him. Otherwise, he'd worry needlessly.

"As long as I get lunch somewhere good… And not in the cafeteria there." I smirked.

"I could never force you to eat _that_." He laughed. "We'll go anywhere you'd like. You indulge me, I indulge you, _tesoro_."

"You know, I do recall telling you to be careful." Esme smirked as she pressed the icepack back against my head.

"Blame the stairs. If _I_ recall correctly, I suggested an elevator when you designed this place," I said, making them both laugh.

"Emmett would have broken that quickly. We all know that." She laughed.

"True… true."

I finally went back to bed around five-thirty. Esme woke me up a little after eleven. My head hurt worse than my pinky, and when I went to my bathroom to get dressed, I looked at my head for the first time. I had a knot the size of a marble sticking out from my forehead on the left side above my eye. I moved my bangs around to cover it, since it looked kinda nasty. I put on some green cotton shorts and a sherbet colored hoodie before heading downstairs

Esme, of course, was waiting patiently for me. The drive didn't take long. It never did with any vampire driving. You'd think Esme would at least go slower, but no, she was just as speedy as the rest of them. Carlisle was the worst at speeding, and then Rose and Esme. Emmett, surprisingly, drove the slowest. Maybe it was because his car was a Jeep that was better suited for the forest. Either way, I don't get how none of them get speeding tickets.

We pulled into a spot outside of the Emergency room, and walked the short distance into the main building where the ER was. Esme smiled politely at the receptionist and we walked on back. Carlisle stood against a counter in black slacks, a blue shirt, and white lab coat with a black stethoscope around his neck. Since he was working in the ER, he wasn't wearing the normal green scrubs. He was writing something on a chart, and quickly flipped it closed before tucking his pen in his pocket and turning to us with a smile, while handing the chart to a nurse.

"Patient's ready to be discharged," he told the nurse." Please, stress to him that he'll keep getting indigestion if he doesn't change his diet. Thank you, Sally."

He walked a little closer and Esme wrapped her arms around him. He kissed her and I saw a few nurses' scowl. I smirked a little.

"How's your day, _amore_?" Esme asked.

"Better now that my girls are here, _cara_." He smiled wrapping an arm around my shoulder and kissing the top of my head — careful not to kiss my aching forehead. "How are you, _tesoro_? Any pain?"

"Headache and my fingers sore, but I'm good."

"Well, the x-ray tech is expecting us, so let's get that done and find something to eat. Shall we?" he asked, before turning to an older woman. "I'll be on my lunch hour, Marie. If you need me, page me. I shouldn't be too far. Meyers knows about my patients that need to be admitted and the others are already being discharged," he said, politely before leading us away and down the hall.

The x-ray was pretty routine. I've had plenty, so nothing surprising there. Like I already knew, my finger wasn't broken, and of course Carlisle set it perfectly. We went to his office. He stopped to grab a finger splint and tape — pink tape. He knew me so well. After splinting my pinky and taping, it he looked at my forehead.

"You need to put ice on this when you get home. It's quite the bump, sweetie, and I imagine it's quite painful, yes?" he asked.

"More of a dull ache. S'not so bad, really. I've had worse."

"You most certainly have, but still take something for the pain if you need it. Would you like some Tylenol?" he asked, pulling a packet from his lab coat pocket. He came prepared.

"Sure," I said, holding my hand out as he popped the pills out and magically produced a bottle of water.

I swallowed them as he stood up and pushed the stethoscope into his coat pocket, and then shrugged the lab coat off. He tucked the ID badge into his pants pocket and was ready to go.

"So, where would you like to eat?" he asked.

I smiled. "Pizza?".

"Of course. I think I know just the place, too."

"How?"

"Nurses', my dear. Not only the heart that keeps this place going, but they also find the best places to eat. There's a place just down the street that supposedly has the best pizza west of Seattle. Since I can't exactly test it out, you can judge for me, so I can tell them if they're right or not." He smirked.

Carlisle decided to drive the entire block away. We could have walked, but no, he wanted to drive. While we waited for the medium meat lover's pizza, we took a seat in the little parlor. The place even smelled amazing. Carlisle pulled two phones out his pockets and placed them — along with his pager — on the table before leaning back in the chair and pulling Esme close. I picked his iPhone up and started messing with it. I went to the camera and quickly snapped a shot of him and Esme. They were rubbing noses all romantically; it was cute.

"New background," I sang.

"I like my old background," Carlisle said.

"It's of me and Esme. This one just has you two, and it's super fluffy and adorable." I smiled as the screen popped up with a picture of Emmett and Rose as it rang. "It's Emmett and Rose." I handed Carlisle the phone. He answered it, putting it to his ear.

"Hello," he said as I heard what sounded like Rose, crying. "What!" he yelled, quickly standing and walking away — a little too fast.

I didn't know what was going on, but from the shocked look on Esme's face, it wasn't good.

"Sweetie, we need to go. We can order pizza tonight," she said, grabbing her purse and standing.

I followed her as she went to the counter and cancelled the order — still paying — before quickly leading me out of the parlor.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking around for Carlisle as we headed to his car.

"Something happened to Josh. Carlisle will explain better when he knows what happened exactly."

She opened the door for me as I slid in. What could have happened to Josh? He was a vampire. It wasn't like he could get hurt. Right?

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	41. Chapter 41

**Edited 8/14/11**

**Translations: **

La mia vita. Come stai, cara: My life. How are you dear?

Ti amo di più. Andare a salvare una vita: I love you more. Go save a life.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just wish it hadn't. I personally didn't know the pain of taking a human life — the guilt associated with it. But now Josh did. He just needed to get away from the scent of Cole's blood and wound up draining someone. The moment Jasper exposed him to the shirt with Cole's blood, he ran. Being a newborn, he was faster than anyone else, and stronger. That was how he broke Emmett's grip on his arm. Jasper and Emmett tried to follow him, but they weren't fast enough. They arrived moments after Josh sunk his teeth in the innocent human's neck. They couldn't stop him once he started. He would have killed them for trying. When a vampire feeds, it was like a dog with a bone. You couldn't take it away unless you want to be hurt, so they had to let him finish. No matter how badly they didn't want to.

Once he was done and satisfied, Josh realized exactly what the difference between human and animal blood was. Human blood was better, so of course he enjoyed it — he wanted more. Thankfully, Jasper was able to subdue him using his gift. They were able to get him back to the house before he could kill again.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle. We couldn't stop him," Rose sobbed.

"No one would have been able to. How is he acting now?"

"He's confused. Obviously, he wants human blood, but there's still that part of him that knows it's wrong. Hopefully, Jasper will be able to talk to him, but right now he's just staring at the wall. He's very upset with himself."

"That's understandable, but will you please ask him to speak with me?"

"Sure, but I don't know if he will," she said to me. "Josh, it's Carlisle."

"I don't wanna talk to him," I heard Josh mumble.

"He's not mad. Josh, everyone slips up. It's what we do after that matters," she told him. "Here he is, Carlisle."

"I'm sorry," Josh said, answering the phone.

"You're not to blame, Josh. It's instinct. I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I'm not mad."

"You're disappointed."

"I am. A human life is sacred, and I firmly believe we shouldn't kill. But you're young. Right now, instinct controls you. I know if you had the choice, you wouldn't have killed him."

"I still want it, Carlisle! I want to kill!" he yelled.

"You need to overcome that, and it won't be easy, but you have to. This family has rules. We don't kill, but we also don't look down on those who do. If you decide on human blood as your diet, than no, you can't be a part of this family, but you'll always be a friend to us for everything you've done for us. If you want to kill humans, you're on your own. I'm sorry, but I can't stand by that choice if you make it. But it is your choice."

"I… I don't want to be a murderer, but God, Carlisle. It was just… so much better, so much more fulfilling. How can you be around that?"

"Years and years of practice. It's not easy. Not many vampires could ever do it. Jasper struggles with it sometimes. That's why he doesn't practice medicine. I can do it because how long I've practiced. The scent doesn't affect me anymore. I can only smell it if I'm looking for it, and even then, it doesn't burn my throat. It took many, many years to get to that point, so please don't compare yourself to me."

"What if I can't help myself? That smell and taste still linger… And I want more."

"You have to decide what you want. No one can decide that for you, but you need to know what you'll lose if you chose that option."

"I don't wanna kill people. Cole's going to hate me now. She'll never forgive me."

"Cole will forgive you."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"We do not keep secrets. She already knows something has happened, so I can't lie. But she won't hate you. She could never hate you

"I failed her. I heard her that day in the pool house, you know? She said I wouldn't hurt her, but her blood was so intoxicating. Carlisle, if I ever see her again, I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

"Her scent is very sweet. More so than most, but I do believe you'll be able to control yourself, someday. Not anytime soon, but someday."

"It'll be years, won't it?"

"Yes, I can't risk her safety. Now that you've tasted human blood, you know how enchanting it is. It would take a second to slip — a second I can't chance. Josh, you made a mistake. Everyone does to some extent. You can't beat yourself up for it. You're sorry, aren't you?"

"More than you'll ever know."

"Then you'll have to forgive yourself, and keep yourself from doing it again."

I walked out from behind the pizza parlor to my car. Esme and Cole were already inside, and both looked up the second I came into view. I honestly didn't know how Cole would react to hearing Josh slipped. We had talked about it and she said she wouldn't blame him, but that was in theory. It actually happened. An innocent human is dead because of what we are — because of Josh. I trusted Jasper to handle Josh. He knew best when it came to newborns and the matter of killing humans. He had to live with the same guilt just as Emmett and Alice do, even Rose, since she's also killed. Maybe not for blood, but still. They would all help him better than I could.

I had never killed a human. I had changed them, but only on their deathbeds. I had never ended a life for my thirst, so I couldn't relate. There really wasn't much I could say to Josh, except that I forgive him. He knew I don't condone it, but it was an accident. As long as he tried to never do it again, I couldn't be angry. I prayed for the soul of the man he killed. For the family he may have left behind, but there wasn't much more I could do.

"Is he all right?" Cole asked as I closed my door.

"I thought you should explain. She just knows something happened," Esme said.

"Yes, Cole, Josh is physically fine, but he did something. It was an accident, but he slipped," I said, turning around to face her in the backseat.

"He… slipped? You mean he hurt someone? Are they okay?"

"No, baby, he killed them. He didn't plan it and, if he could, he would take it back, but he drank from a human."

"Oh… " she said, sitting back against the seat.

Unfortunately, I did have to return to work. My lunch hour was up and I was needed. I dropped Esme and Cole off by Esme's car, kissed them both goodbye, and headed back to the ER.

Time seemed to slow down and people seemed to start disappearing. The once busy waiting room, was now empty. I was left to sit at the nurses' station, charting, and waiting for sick or injured people to come. My mind kept wondering to Cole. She hadn't said anything but "goodbye" and "I love you" before she and Esme headed home. I wondered where her head was, and what she thought about Josh. I hoped she wouldn't hate him or think badly about him. As a newborn vampire, he was ruled by instinct. It wasn't his choice to kill that human. Around five, I took a short break and called Esme.

"Hello, love," she answered.

"_La mia vita. Come stai, cara_?" I asked

"I'm fine. I just talked to Rose. Emmett and Jasper took Josh deep into the wilderness to hunt. How are you?"

"Tired of monotony. The ER decided to slow down to nothing, so I haven't had much to do. Has Cole said anything?"

She sighed, "She hasn't spoken to me. I told her dinner would be ready soon and she responded with "uh-huh", nothing else. She finished her homework and is now just sitting on the couch with the TV on. She's not even watching it. I'm worried."

"We'll all talk when I get home. I'm sure she's confused and, knowing her, she's trying to find a way to take the blame."

"How on earth could she blame herself?"

"Josh was changed because he was protecting her. If he hadn't done that and been changed, the human would be alive. It's truly a ludicrous thought, but I wouldn't doubt Cole thinking it. She's too much like me. I take the blame when someone I've changed slips. If it wasn't for me, they wouldn't have been a vampire to slip. I try not to anymore and I'm not feeling that way with Josh, but Cole might."

"Maybe it would be best if you spoke to her, because I'm certainly not helping."

"Esme, don't think like that. You help her more than you realize."

"I know, but I can't help this. She's shutting me out, and I don't know what to do."

"I'll talk to her, we can—" I paused as my pager began vibrating against my hip. It was a major trauma. "I have to go, _amore_, but when I get home, I'll talk to her. We can work this out. I love you, _cara_."

"_Ti amo di più. Andare a salvare una vita,_" she said before we hung up and I ran back to the ER.

I did as Esme said, and saved my patients life. Unfortunately, by the time I got out of the OR, it was almost midnight. And by the time I finished charting and I could leave, it was past one in the morning. Cole would be asleep, and now that Josh had slipped, Emmett and Rose weren't coming home until early Tuesday morning, so she wouldn't be talking with Rose today or any time soon.

"Dr. Cullen, wait!" a nurse yelled, running behind me to catch up.

I stopped and turned just as she reached me. "Is something wrong, Linda?"

"You're wife called." She paused to catch her breath. "She's coming in with your daughter."

"What happened?" I asked, eyes wide in fear.

"She's having a panic attack. A really bad one. Your wife gave her an Ativan, but it hasn't helped. She said she tried to call you, but it went straight to voicemail and she didn't know what else to do. They should be here in a few minutes. She wants you to meet her outside."

I pulled my cell from my pocket. Sure enough, I hadn't turned the damn thing back on once I signed out. I had four missed calls. All from Esme, but no messages.

"All right, go ahead and get me 4mgs of Ativan IM and have an exam room ready. If the Ativan doesn't help, we'll have to try something else," I told her as we walked back to the ER and I slung my coat over a chair.

Hopefully, giving Cole more Ativan straight into her body would calm her. I listened for Esme's car to arrive before walking out. She pulled up to the drop off area. Cole was in the passenger seat, clutching her chest and hyperventilating. As I opened the door, she flung herself into me — gasping and clawing at my shirt.

"I've got you, baby. It's all right. You're going to be fine," I whispered in her ear as I pulled her out of the car.

Esme ran over as quickly as she could without exposing herself. "I gave her an Ativan over a half an hour ago. It's done nothing. She says she can't breathe. Carlisle, help her, please," Esme begged as she shut the door for me and we walked quickly into the ER.

"I will. I'm so sorry. I was in the OR, and then the ICU. I hadn't turned my phone back on yet. What happened. Was it a nightmare?"

"No, she couldn't sleep, so I tried to get her to talk to me. She did, but then she started panicking worse than I've ever seen. I called to ask you what to do, but I figured you were in the OR, or something when you didn't answer. So, I went ahead and gave her a pill. It's done literally nothing. I think she's actually worse, and I didn't know what time you'd be home, so the only thing I could think of was to call the hospital to try and get a hold of you. They said you just signed out, but again you didn't answer, so I thought bringing her here would be best."

Linda met us in the hallway. "Exam room five," said.

"Da… da… daddy!" Cole cried between gasps. "Ch," gasp, "est!"

"I know, baby. I know. Its okay. We're going to take care of that," I told her as I tried to lay her down.

She wouldn't let go of me, so I cradled her in my lap and sat down with her on the gurney. Linda pulled on some gloves and started wiping Cole's upper arm.

"That won't work. She has no fat there. It needs to be given in her hip," I told her as I adjusted Cole like I had done months before when she needed an injection for her anxiety on the island.

Linda started lowering Cole's pajama bottoms some and pinched her skin together. Cole tried jerking away before she could give her the shot.

"Sweetie, you need to hold still," Linda told Cole.

"Relax, baby girl. This will help," I cooed, holding her tighter, so Linda could swiftly inject the medication.

Esme pressed her hand against Cole's cheek to distract her for the second Linda needed.

"It's all done, honey. It's over," Esme said, softly kissing Cole's forehead.

Slowly but surely, Cole's breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Linda pulled a blanket from the cabinet and draped it over Cole in my arms, before taking her vitals.

"BP's way up there, as well as her pulse. Respirations look decent, though," she said, pulling the cuff from Cole's arm.

Esme tucked the blanket back around her little body as someone knocked on the door.

"Do you need me?" Dr. Robins, an ER doctor asked.

He must have heard the commotion and wanted to see what was going on.

"Would you sign off on the medication order since I can't?" I asked.

"Of course. Can you tell me what happened?"

"She had a panic attack. My wife tried giving her Ativan at home, but the pill didn't work, so she brought her in."

"Does this happen a lot?"

"She has a prescription for oral Ativan when it gets bad, but it didn't help this time. She has PTSD and social and general anxiety disorder. She also takes a Beta blocker as needed for school, which she just started Tuesday."

"Do you want me to write for something else. Maybe just to try until she can see her psychiatrist?" he asked, assuming the diagnosis was made by someone other than me. Assuming she had a psychiatrist.

"No, I have IM Ativan at home. 4mgs of that worked and it worked the last time, as well. Sometimes one pill just doesn't cut it. If I was home, we wouldn't have needed to come. Could you discharge her for me?"

"Do you mind me keeping her here until her BP comes down? Just in case?"

"No, that's fine. It shouldn't take long, even her pulse is slowing," I said, resting my index and middle fingertips against Cole's neck.

"May I?" he asked ,holding up his stethoscope.

I couldn't exactly deny him, considering I couldn't technically treat her and for her to be able to go home, he needed to sign off, so I nodded and let him listen to her chest. I knew her heart and lungs sounded fine, so he wouldn't find anything. This was just a panic attack. A severe one, but nothing life-threatening that he would want to keep her for.

"All right, do you mind if I keep her here for an hour or so? Then if her BP is better, you can take her home? I don't want to take any chances with your daughter," he said, putting the instrument away.

"I understand and thank you very much."

Before long, he and Linda left, turning the lights down some. Though, I highly doubted lights would wake Cole now that she was sedated. She slept soundly in my arms. I could have laid her down on the gurney now, but I didn't want to. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her bangs were clipped back. She had a few stray hairs on the sides of her face that I swept away so not to bother her. Her lips were just slightly separated, creating a tiny "O" form. Her cheeks were still red from crying and all around her eyes were puffy from the tears. I truly didn't like seeing her like this. I had seen her like this too many times, and I needed to find a way to stop her from having to go through this.

"She told me a lot. I pressed her into this, Carlisle. I should have let you handle it, but she couldn't sleep and she was already crying, so I asked her what was wrong. She carries such a burden on her tiny shoulders. Everyone's mistakes are hers, and that's not right for her to have to handle," Esme said.

"What all did she say?" I asked.

"She's worried about Josh. She thinks he'll blame her for what he did. I tried telling her he wouldn't, but that didn't matter to her, because she thinks it's her fault. She thinks everything is her fault! How can we show her it's not?" she begged.

"For once… I don't know, but we will figure it out," I promised.

We were finally able to get home a little after three. Cole was still out cold like she should be, so I laid her down in bed between Esme and I. I wasn't going to work tomorrow. I already informed the Chief of Staff of Cole, and he agreed that there were other people he could call. I had worked seventeen hours yesterday anyway with the trauma, so it wasn't like I hadn't helped out. The sun had come up hours ago. It was getting close to noon, which meant Cole had been asleep for almost ten hours, so I expected her to wake up soon.

"She looks like an angel when she sleeps. Her little mouth forms that "O" shape. It's so cute." Esme smiled, moving a piece of hair from Cole's face before kissing her cheek.

"She is an angel," I agreed raising Cole's hand in mine and kissing the back.

Ever so lightly, Cole's hand squeezed mine and my eyes went to her face. She pinched her eyes together tightly before opening them and blinking a few times to clear the blurriness.

"Good morning, _tesoro_. How do you feel?" I asked as she turned her body into mine and snuggled her face into my chest.

"Tired," she groaned before yawning.

"It's almost noon. I understand your pretty tired, but would you mind eating something before trying to go back to sleep?"

"I'll make you anything you'd like," Esme said, smoothing down Cole's hair.

"Uh, I'm not really hungry yet."

"Try something small for me, please?" I asked.

"Maybe a small bowl of cereal?" Esme suggested.

"M'kay," Cole agreed as Esme rose from the bed with a final kiss to Cole's cheek before disappearing from the room.

I decided to move into a sitting position, bringing Cole with me, as I rested my back against the wall. She kept her head on my arm, with her eyes opening and closing every once in a while.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I actually _feel_ better after talking to mom. I'm trying to realize it's not my fault, but it's not easy."

"I understand that. Once you get it in your mind it's your fault, it's hard to get it out. But it's not your fault for what Josh did. It's not really his fault either. It was instinct. Is there anything else you wish to discuss? Unfortunately, Rose won't be back until early Tuesday, so you guys can't go to Seattle."

"You want me to talk about the first day of school, don't you?"

"I'd like that, but it's up to you."

"I just… those boys. It sent me back to my last foster home. You know what happened there."

"I do, unless there's more you haven't told me."

"I told you they… they… t…touch…touched me." She had difficulties getting the word out.

"I know, sweetie, and they had no right to do that."

"But they didn't do what Mark did. So why is it so hard for me?"

"You were violated. Just because there was no penetration, doesn't mean it wasn't assault. It was assault. It was a violation of your body to which you didn't agree to."

"I think I'm more upset that it caused me to run and actually be… raped. If they hadn't touched me, I wouldn't have ran into Mark and I wouldn't have been raped!" she cried.

"So those boys in class reminded you of what happened after and you feared Mark, not so much the boys from your foster home," I concluded.

"Yes… no… dad, I don't know! I just… I just… I just" she gasped starting to hyperventilate.

"Shhh, sweetie. Calm down. You don't have to say anything that you don't want to. Deep breaths for me."

"I'm just scared of so many things. So many bad things happen to me, and I wish they didn't," she said after a few moments.

Esme had come back in with the cereal, but Cole just didn't want it right now — which I understood. So Esme placed it on the end table in hopes Cole would soon want it.

"Many bad things have happened to you. Things you shouldn't have had to see or go through, but you did. Now, darling, you have to work through them. It's the only way you can get better, and it's all up to you. There's nothing I can do without your help. So help me, so I can help you."

"O…k" she said, looking up to me.

"Good. First things first. Guilt and blame… You made me stop, so now it's your turn. Nothing is your fault. Life happens. Things in life happen, and you can't control them. What Josh did has nothing to do with you." She tried to interrupt me. "I get why you think it does. I understand that you believe it's your fault Josh is vampire, but, baby, it's not. He wanted it. We spoke a great deal on the island, and he always came back to the conclusion that he wanted to become a vampire. It might not have happened the way we wanted, but it happened, and now he's a vampire. His slip ups are not yours. You can't blame yourself, otherwise, you'll be miserable in life. And you do not deserve to be miserable. You deserve to be happy, and that's what you need to be. You need to be happy."

"I know… It's not my fault. I can make it my fault, but it would make me miserable and I shouldn't be miserable by something that's not true."

"Great," I told her kissing her forehead.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	42. Chapter 42

**Edited 8/14/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Esme's POV**

Cole's birthday was tomorrow! My baby would be fifteen years old. I couldn't believe it had been almost a year since she came into our lives. In two months, it would be a year since our family was complete. Since our lives changed for the oh-so-much better. I was elated, but Carlisle… Not so much. Of course, he was happy for Cole's birthday, but he wasn't happy she was getting older. It scared him to know in three short years she'd be an adult.

She wanted to go to college, so she might be leaving us, depending on what school she wanted to attend. I couldn't think about that yet. We still had three years and, though I certainly wish we had longer, I would be damned if we didn't make those three years count.

My gift to Cole was a scrapbook. I had been collecting pictures since the third day Cole was in our lives. Anytime I witnessed a moment that I wanted Cole to remember, I'd capture it. That left me with hundreds and hundreds of photos to go through and choose from. The ones I didn't put in her book, would go in the one she gave me for Christmas, but even then I'd still have boxes full. Not that I minded. I could look at these pictures every day. A lot of them were of Carlisle and Cole, considering I was the one taking the picture.

Personally, loved the ones when she was asleep and resting in his arms. The look on his face said so much. He was happier than I'd ever seen him — so serene. If Cole was in his arms, then he didn't look like he had a care in the world. The only photos I didn't know if I should include, were the ones from my island and the ones with Josh. I worried that might hurt her to see. She lost him in a way on that island, and I didn't want her to see something that would upset her.

"Pictures? Still trying to decide my love?" Carlisle asked as he came into our room, taking his coat off.

He worked late last night and was just getting home at ten in the morning; the kids were all at school since it was Friday.

"Yes, I just can't decide if I should include the island and Josh ones. Do you think she'd get upset with seeing Josh as a human?" I asked as he came and settled himself next to me on the bed.

I kissed him passionately, savoring his sweet lips for a moment, before letting him pull away to respond.

"Maybe if you made the album of just us, she wouldn't notice. You can give her the others in a box. I worry that she'll be upset that Josh doesn't look like that anymore, but then again, she might not. She might like to see the memories of him like that."

"I think that's a good idea. I'll put the pictures of the island in a box for her. The book can just have me, you, and her. All the others can go in another album or something. Thank you." I smiled as I began sorting the pictures.

I let Carlisle see them before placing them where they needed to go. The day went fast and I placed the papers for the scrapbook by the window so the glitter and glue could dry. I made sure the main color was, of course, pink. Cole's favorite. Once they dried, I inserted them in the sleeves of the book and placed it in the box with a bow.

We were having a small party tomorrow. Since Cole didn't want a party with school friends, it seemed like a good idea. Truthfully, Cole didn't have many friends — just Sarah. So, instead of inviting random people she knew, we'd have a family party. Tomorrow night, Alice, Jasper, and Josh would be calling on a web cam and she'd open her presents from them then, so they could watch. Alice really wanted to come, but it wouldn't have been fair to leave Josh out, so a web cam was the best solution.

Alice shipped all of the gifts straight from the places she ordered them from and I had wrapped them a few days ago. Clothes, purses, clothes, purses, and more clothes was what Alice got her, along with shoes for each outfit, of course. There were about thirty boxes from her and Jasper and a few more from Josh — who got Cole a new iPod and iTunes cards with a few different cases. He also sent a written letter for her.

Josh had a really difficult time coming to terms with the fact that he killed someone. He more or less stopped talking to Cole, which hurt her deeply. What used to be almost daily conversations, turned into one call since he slipped. She was hurt by it, but she tried not to show it.

She and Carlisle talked every day after he gets home from work. Normally light "how was your day", but sometimes it delved deeper and she'd come out crying. It was those talks that hurt Carlisle. He didn't want her to feel worse after talking, but she needed to express her issues to work through them, and of course that was hard. I couldn't listen when their talks got heavy. It really hurt when she and he talked about her biological parents. To know she didn't have childhood, broke my heart. In fact, this would be the first actual birthday she's ever had, and I could only hope it would be a good one.

"This will be good, right? Will she be happy with what we're doing?"

"What on earth do you mean?" Carlisle asked with a chuckle.

"The small party, the gifts… It's enough, right? Maybe she would have liked going away somewhere. This is like her first birthday. It needs to be special," I said as he pulled me close and kissed my temple, rubbing his nose softly.

"It will be," he assured me, moving his lips down the side of my face, and then over to my lips. I laid back against the pillows as his hands, his oh-so marvelous hands, slid under my shirt.

I giggled. "The kids will be home soon!"

"We have time," he said, smugly with that devious smirk as he popped the button on my jeans making me giggle.

Now it was my turn, so I snaked my hands around his waist and pulled his shirt out. We defiantly had time. We would make the time.

**Cole's POV**

"Seven times Rose! Seven, it's a new record!" Emmett laughed as we met up with Rose by the jeep.

He was making fun of me for how many times I tripped during gym class. I hated Friday's. Seriously, jogging all class sucks with my coordination, and today, it sucked even worse because my tooth was killing me. And had been for the past week.

It's my own fault, really. All I had to do was tell Carlisle or Esme and they'd willingly take me to the dentist. But no, stubborn, stupid me won't tell them because let's face it, I hate doctors, and dentists were no exception. If anything, they were worse. Just my cleaning over the summer hurt, so on Monday when I bit into that stupid carrot and broke half my back tooth off, I kept my sore mouth shut — afraid of going back.

I thought I could deal with the pain. Didn't nerves die after a while? Apparently not, and certainly not in a few days because this still hurt like a motherclucker. If this were something Carlisle could fix, I'd go to him in a heartbeat. An earache, a cold, anything like that, and I'd tell him, because that wouldn't require me to go to anyone else. He'd fix it, but he couldn't fix this. So, here I am, the day before my birthday, in major amounts of pain.

"Emmett, that's not nice. It's not Cole's fault gravity is her arch enemy." Rose giggled.

"Shut up," I groaned, climbing into my seat behind Emmett's.

I put my head against the window as he drove off. The cold glass felt so good against my cheek, but it didn't stop the pain. When we pulled into the garage, I opened my door. Only for it to be shut by Emmett before I could get out.

"Let's give it a minute." He smirked. "Sixty second warning you perverts!" he yelled.

"What the hell, Emmett. Let me out," I groaned.

"Hold on. Shirts are on, there goes the pants. Okay, you're good." He smiled, opening the door for me.

It was easy to put two and two together and know my parents were probably doing the naughty, but I couldn't seem to care. My face was breaking in two. Great. now that I just thought about it, I was disgusted. My parents just had sex! As if I couldn't feel any worse, that thought invaded my mind as I stumbled my way to my room.

"Happy almost birthday, _tesoro_!" Carlisle sang as I made it to the floor where my room was.

"Thanks, dad," I said, keeping my talking to minimum. The less I talked, the better.

He followed me as I made it to my room "Sweetie, are you okay?" I tossed my book bag down and face planted into my bed. "Did something happen at school?"

I felt the bed drop beside me, and then his hand on my back.

"No," I mumbled into my pillow.

"Then what's wrong? You've been quiet for the past few days. Are you feeling all right?"

Now or never. Maybe he'd just shoot me up with some good drugs and knock the offending piece out. Doubtful, but I sat up anyway.

I put on my best pouty face. "My tooth hurts."

Sympathy was the goal here. If he felt bad enough, maybe he wouldn't be mad I've kept this from him for a week.

"When did this start?"

"Aweekago," I said quickly, mushing the words together.

"A week? _Tesoro!_"

"I'm sorry! Ibrokemytoothonacarrot."

"Let me see. Open up." He tapped on my chin. I fluttered my eyes and pouted, but he just stared harshly until I opened up. "Yes, you certainly did break your second molar on the top left side. It looks quite bad actually. Very painful, I'm sure."

I nodded as I closed my mouth, resorting back to the pout. Though, it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to feel bad for me.

"I should have told you sooner."

"Yes, you should have, but we'll talk about why you didn't after I call the dentist."

"I'm going to the dentist tonight, aren't I?"

"Would you rather stay in pain?"

"No," I sighed.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the passenger side of Carlisle's Mercedes with Esme saying good luck after kissing my cheek.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come, honey?" she asked.

"No, I'll live," I said, letting her shut the door.

Carlisle quickly kissed her goodbye and got in next to me.

"I love you, sweetie!" Esme said, waving.

"Love you, too," I said as we pulled out, knowing she'd hear me.

"Dr. Hunter is doing us a huge favor by seeing you right now. She normally closes her office at three on Fridays, so please, even though I know you don't want to be there, be nice, answer her questions, and for the love of all that is holy, don't spit on her again," Carlisle said.

"That was an accident. She told me to rinse. How was I supposed to know she didn't have the sink pulled over?" I asked, secretly laughing on the inside.

It was an accident, but still, it was hilarious. And at the time he laughed too. Even she did!

"Just look this time, all right?"

I placed my head back against the rest. "Yeah, sure, sure."

When we got to the dentist's office, it was empty. Literally, no one was even behind the desk. It was after all three-thirty, and Carlisle said the office normally closed at three on Friday's, so it made sense no one was out here. Eventually, I heard someone yell they'd be right out, so I plopped down in one of the chairs, awaiting my doom.

Was I being melodramatic? Yes, but I really, really didn't want to be here. After a minute an older woman in pink scrubs came out. She wasn't the dentist. Dr. Hunter was much younger, so she must have been a dental assistant or something. She greeted Carlisle and handed him a form to sign.

"You two can go ahead and follow me. Dr. Hunter is waiting," the woman said as Carlisle beckoned for me to follow, which I did, reluctantly.

I wanted to run when the woman motioned for me to sit down in that chair. One look from Carlisle, and I did. It wasn't a mean look. More like a "it's going to be okay'" or "I love you and I'm only making you do this because I care" look. Short and simple, it was a guilt look with a small "I love you" smile.

"How are you doing, Cole?" Dr. Hunter said as she came in and sat down on her little stool

The assistant woman put the weird bib around my neck.

"I'm okay," I said.

"Well, from what your dad told me, I'd say you could be better and I'm sure you'd like to be. Yes?" she asked with a smile as she snapped on her gloves.

Why must people snap those on? Is it impossible to pull them on quietly? Carlisle does the same thing, and it's a little unnerving. If I did become a doctor, I'd make it my personal goal to never snap those things.

"Yeah, I'd rather not be in pain."

"Then let's get you out of that pain. Open wide for me." She put the mirror in my mouth and pulled my cheek. "Oh my, I imagine you are in pain, honey. You're missing more than half of your tooth!" Tell me something I don't know. "Looks like you have some decay, which made your molar weak, and it looks like you have an abscess. Not a fun combination," she said, pulling the mirror out.

"An abscess?" I asked, rubbing my cheek

"A tooth abscess is a collection of infected material… pus, resulting from a bacterial infection in the center of a tooth. It tends to happen with a broken tooth that's left untreated. Everything you eat or drink will get into the tooth and obviously you can't brush it out since you're in pain, which is how you wind up with an infection. You, my dear, need a root canal. The tooth already had a cavity. It breaking and becoming infected has made it so bad I can't just drill the cavity and fill it."

I looked wide-eyed to Carlisle. "I hate to say this, but you should have told me, _tesoro_. We might have been able to prevent this." He gave my hand a squeeze as my eyes filled with tears. "It's okay, sweetie. It's not as bad as it seems."

"Your dad's right," Dr. Hunter said. "People make a root canal out to be so much worse than it really is. It'll stop the pain and you'll be feeling much better."

"Can't you just pull it out?" I asked.

"It's a permanent tooth; you'd never get it back. I can save the tooth, so that's not an option I'd go with. We'll start it today. I'll put in a temporary filling, and then in about a week once the infection clears up, I'll put a permanent filling in and it'll all be over with. It won't hurt. You'll be nice and numb. It's your birthday tomorrow, right? You don't want to have a tooth pulled."

"You're not losing a tooth if we can prevent it," Carlisle told me.

"Okay, just… make the pain stop," I whined.

"That I can do," Dr. Hunter promised as she started pulling stuff out of the drawer. "We'll get a quick x-ray, and then I'll give you a few shots—"

I interrupted her. "Shots! Nope, I'm out."

I pulled the bib off. Hell no, she wasn't putting shots — that was plural, don't think I missed that — in my mouth. I tried to get up, but Carlisle made me stay in the chair.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. I wanna go home," I lied.

"It's okay, baby. I'm right here and I'll hold your hand. It'll be over in a second. After the first shot, the others won't hurt much, if at all."

"No, home now! This," I flung my hands around the room, "isn't happening!" I shrieked.

"Yes, it is."

"I'm calling mom!" I cried, patting my pocket. Fudge, I left my phone at home.

"Cole, honey, we'll put some ointment on first to numb the gums and it won't hurt very badly. Settle down, dear," Dr. Hunter said.

"No! I wanna go home!" I cried.

"Mom isn't going to let you just come home either," Carlisle said. "You need this."

"Daddy!" I pleaded

"Can you give her nitrous?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, I can. Honey, I can give you something called nitrous oxide. You're going to inhale it through your nose, and you shouldn't feel a thing. Though, I'll still be giving you the shots of Novocain, with the gas you won't feel it. You'll feel a little funny. It is after all known as laughing gas, but you'll be so relaxed I guarantee you, you won't care about a thing. Does that sound better?" she asked.

"Oh… okay, but I won't feel the shot?"

"Nope."

"Remember after your hand surgery when you woke up, how you were all giggles and said you couldn't feel your body?" Carlisle asked.

"Yeah, but I was put to sleep."

"Well, nitrous is a lighter anesthetic. You'll feel like you did when you woke up. A little woozy, is the word I think you used."

"All right, but if I feel that shot, we're stopping."

"Sounds good. Margret, can you set that up for me?" Dr. Hunter asked the assistant.

A few minutes later I had a weird mask over my nose and all my troubles seemed to disappear.

**Carlisle's POV**

"How do you feel, _tesoro_?" I asked, holding Cole's hand as Dr. Hunter leaned her back and began setting up for the root canal.

She was just so terrified of the needle minutes before, but now I didn't miss the little smirk on her face.

"She packed my bags…" she sang, "last night, pre-flight, zero hour… nine a.m." She giggled. Dear God, she was singing Elton John. She shouldn't be alone with Emmett, but I'd have to thank him for this. "And I'm gonna be high… as a kite… by then."

I couldn't help myself, let's just say. "And I think it's gonna be a long, long time 'til touch down brings me round again to find I'm not the man they think I am at home. Oh no, no, no I'm a rocket man. Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone," I sang along.

"Okay, okay, how about we get this done, and then you can sing anything else Elton John. May I suggest Bennie and the Jets?" Dr. Hunter laughed as she effortlessly, with not even a twitch from Cole, injected the Novocain.

The entire procedure took some time, but Cole didn't mind. She was on cloud nine, thank God. Poor child had such a fear of needles, and I truly did feel bad for her. But obviously, I wasn't going to let her just go home. No matter how much she didn't want it, she needed a root canal. If she had told me when this happened, it might have just been a large filling or crown, but her little nerves got the best of her.

I knew last night something was up. She barely ate, even less than she had been, but I wrote it off as her normal nerves for school or her birthday jitters. If I had known she was missing half of her back tooth, her little behind would have been in this chair much sooner. During her teeth cleaning before school started, she had no cavities, unbelievably surprising considering she'd only been to the dentist when she was young — as per the state. Now that she was eating regularly, and even adding sugary drinks to her diet, I wasn't surprised she'd developed a cavity. She would just need to brush better to prevent more.

"Alrighty, little missy, all done!" Dr. Hunter announced as she removed the nitrous mask from Cole's nose and sat her up.

"I feels good," Cole slurred with a crooked smirk.

"The nitrous will wear off soon, but your mouth is going to be numb for an hour or so from the Novocain. You might feel some discomfort tonight and sore tomorrow. Just take some Motrin or something comparable. If it hurts worse than just mild soreness, call me. I filled the root cavity with an antibiotic gel to clear up the infection, but I'll write for amoxicillin to be safe. You have a temporary filling in right now. When you come back next week, we'll make a permanent one. Try not to chew with that side, baby it, if you will. It's fragile and there is a possibility of the filling falling out, so be careful and call me if that happens. Sound good?" Dr. Hunter asked as Cole nodded absentmindedly.

"Of course. Here, Cole let me help you, sweetie," I said as Cole started to get up. I didn't want her to fall, so I helped her up and held her steady as she swayed.

"Whoa." She giggled as I walked her out front to make the next appointment and sign the paperwork.

"How does Thursday at three sound?" Margret asked.

"Can we do it Friday… at like noon?" Cole asked with a devious smirk.

"I have Friday at one open," Margret said.

"Why, Cole?" I asked.

"I can get outta gym." She giggled.

"Fine, only this once, though. We'll take Friday at one," I said, signing the papers.

"Okay, we'll see you then. Take care," Margret said as I guided Cole out. She stumbled and giggled, so I just picked her up and walked to the car.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	43. Chapter 43

**Edited 8/15/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

Today was my birthday. I was turning fifteen, and for once, I actually felt like this wasn't just another day. It was my day! At midnight last night, just after I had fallen asleep, everyone came in. Emmett yelled and jumped on my bed. Thank God, it didn't break. I was wished happy birthday by them before they so graciously let me fall back asleep.

My mouth was a little sore. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been, though, and for that I was grateful. At least next week I got out of gym! Yeah, I picked the dentist over gym — sad, but true. Since it was Saturday, I just laid in my bed for a little bit. My comfy, warm bed that I had no intentions of getting out of just yet, and everyone knew that.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear, Cole. Happy birthday to you!" Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, and Rose all sang as they entered my bedroom.

"You look like a monkey and you smell like one, too!" Emmett added before getting slapped by Rose.

I sat up with a smile as Esme sat down next to me with a gift.

"It's too early for gifts," I said as she passed it to me.

"Open it, honey. Please?" she asked.

The box was a big pink square with a large white bow resting on top. I opened the lid to find a scrapbook. It was light pink, leather bound. In the window, it had my name written in calligraphy.

"I love it!" I said, opening it.

The first picture was of Carlisle and Esme. The one I snapped back when Carlisle took me to lunch after x-raying my finger a month ago. It had a caption underneath…

_Cole,_

_You are so amazing. Without you, our lives would be filled with emptiness. You've given us more than you can imagine. Everyday life just gets better because of you. You, our sweet child, are love. You're kind, compassionate, caring, and just oh-so perfect. We can't even imagine life without you because, without you, there would be no life for us. You are the most important thing. When you smile or laugh, our hearts feel as though they beat. You've given us the chance to feel human, to love like humans, and for that, we thank you. You are our child, and its fate that we have you and you have us. If you ever feel lost or unloved, read this and you'll find that love again. These pages the beginnings of a true family — a complete family. You've completed our family and our lives_

_We love you more than you'll ever know…_

_Carlisle and Esme Cullen _

_Dad and Mom_

"Mommy" I cried, wrapping my arms around her.

I was crying tears of joy. Those words meant so much to me.

"Oh, honey, don't cry," she said, kissing my head.

"I love it so much. Thank you guys," I said as I pulled back and she wiped my tears.

We flipped through the rest of the book, remembering when some of the pictures were taken — laughing and awing until suddenly, Carlisle's phone rang.

"No," Esme said as he looked apologetic and answered.

It was the hospital, and they needed him.

"Cole, I am so sorry. I will be back before you open your gifts," he said.

"Carlisle, there has to be someone else," Esme said.

"It's a logging accident with mass casualties. It's all hands on deck. Everyone's being called in and, as head of Trauma, I have to be there. But I'll do what I can to stay out of surgery and get back here as soon as everything's situated. I will be back, Cole. I swear."

"I understand. It's fine. Go," I said, trying to hide the pain.

I wanted him to stay. And that was so incredibly selfish of me when people's lives were at stake. As much as I needed him, they needed his skills so much more. I would have other birthdays, but those people only had one life. I could tell myself that over and over, but I still felt a little angry he was leaving. And that made me such a horrible person.

"I will make this up to you," he said. "We'll go anywhere you want — just me and you. Baby, I am so sorry. Truly, I am. Please, you have to believe that if I had the choice, I'd stay. I swear, I'll be here when you blow your candles out tonight. It's early and I'll dictate everything I can to other doctors and even other hospitals if I have to, but I will be here."

He his hand against my cheek, looking me in the eyes. He brought his lips to my forehead, kissing softly before pulling back.

"I know. It's fine. Really, I do understand. Go save lives," I said with a smile.

He frowned. Obviously, my smile wasn't that convincing. I was such a horrible person wanting to keep him from saving people.

**Carlisle's POV**

Esme was angry, Cole was hurt, and here I was, ordering where and how the multiple victims of a logging accident needed to be treated.

"All OR's need to cleared and ready. I'll triage, and the most critical will be sent straight up. All non-critical patients need to be sent to Forks. Anyone that can survive the transport will be airlifted to Seattle. Do you understand?" I asked the teams of nurses and doctors as we waiting for the first few incomings.

"You're not operating?" a resident asked.

"Not unless absolutely necessary. I'll triage and supervise. If you need me, I'm here."

I'd be damned if I didn't make it home for Cole's birthday tonight.

"First patient is less than a minute out," a nurse said.

"All right. Here we go"

A cable had snapped on a logging truck, sending multi-ton logs onto dozens of workers, crushing some. Three were DOA after being pulled from the wreckage, two were deceased and still stuck under the logs, and seventeen others were injured or trapped. Six were critical. Three of which, were sent straight to the OR. Two were stable enough after a few blood transfusions to be airlifted to Seattle, and the sixth I had to operate on in one of the trauma suites — not an ideal situation. Forks Community could only accept five of the non-critical, so the rest were being treated in our ER by physicians from all specialties in the hospital. All of the ER doctors were in surgery with at least one surgeon supervising. One of the worst logging accidents in recent years, had to happen on Cole's birthday, keeping me tied up until eight o'clock at night.

Cole's birthday was just about over by the time I got home. I made a quick stop at a local florist, whom I may have paid dearly to open the shop for me. I highly doubted the two dozen red, pink, yellow, and white roses with balloons and teddy bear would change the fact that I messed up by not being there today, but I refuse to come home empty handed. When I pulled into the garage, I was met by Esme. She wasn't happy, not that I blamed her.

"I'm so sorry," I said as I pulled the vase and teddy bear from the car.

"You broke her heart today."

"I know, but I'll make it up to her."

"Emmett and Rose took her out. They played catch in the field. You really should thank Emmett, because if it wasn't for him, she'd be sitting by the window waiting for you. One day Carlisle, that's all we asked for. I don't get upset when you cancel on me for work, and I understand that your job is important, but this was her first birthday with us. We won't get it back."

"You think I should have told them no? More people could have died if I hadn't been there. It kills me to know I missed most of today, but I really didn't have a choice. We had to call in doctors with barely any ER experience to help. I had to operate in a trauma room because we didn't have any more OR's. People were dying."

"I can't be mad at you because of that. I so want to, because our daughter should be the most important thing, but I get that your job is important. So, I can't be mad, but I am disappointed."

"I will make this up to her."

"Good." She kissed my cheek. "Let's go inside and celebrate our child's birthday."

She took my hand and leading me inside. The second we got to the living room, Cole jumped off the couch and into my arms. I set the vase and bear down just in time to scoop her up and hold her tight.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. Happy birthday," I told her.

"Thanks. It's okay, daddy. I understand." That made me feel worse. I would rather her had been angry. I could fix angry, but I couldn't fix disappointment. "Are those mine?" She smiled, eyeing the vase.

"Of course. Happy birthday. Do you like them?" I asked as she gently felt one of the roses.

"I love them. Thank you, daddy," she said, wrapping her arm back around my neck.

"So you opened your gifts from Alice, Jasper, and Josh, right?" I asked, looking to the two full totes of clothing, and multitude of shoe boxes on the floor.

She bit her lip. "Yeah, um, sorry. Alice didn't want me to wait."

"That's fine, sweetie. What all did you get? Show me," I said, sitting down on the couch with her in my lap. She got off and sat down on the floor by the totes.

"Alice and Jasper gave me most of the clothes and shoes. I swear, I'll never wear the same thing twice for at least six months." She giggled.

"Of course. We all know Alice wouldn't hear of that. Wearing the same thing twice, ha," I scoffed.

"Yeah." She laughed. "And Josh got me a new iPod touch. Don't tell him, but I don't exactly see the use of it with my iPhone, but I like it still," she said, handing me the new, pink silicon covered electronic.

"You could always keep it in your bathroom and listen to it while you shower," I suggested.

"I think Alice thought the same thing. Jasper sent me this."

She showed me a portable music player in its box.

"So, I heard you played catch with Emmett and Rose, did you have fun?" I asked, placing the electronic on the end table as she put the clothing back in its totes.

She grinned. "Yep. Apparently, I can pitch!"

"Seriously, kid might have horrid coordination, but her arm is right on. We'll have to play baseball sometime and let her pitch to us," Emmett said.

"Sounds like something we can all do as a family. I was worried Cole wouldn't have a place with how we play," I said.

"I may have thrown myself to the ground a few times when Emmett hit the ball, but now I'm used to it. Oh my God, do you know how fast he can get that ball to go?" Cole said, enthusiastically. She was so excited to share her fun with Emmett.

"We've never tried to record his speed," I said. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it's well over a few hundred miles per hour."

"Seriously, I let go of the ball and in like… a second, there's a huge clap of thunder and the ball was miles away."

"So that was the _thunder_ I heard today." I smirked, remembering the nurses' curious discussion as to why it was thundering when, for once, we weren't expecting a storm.

"Yeah, and we need new bats," Emmett said.

"There are dents! Huge craters in the bat. He can only use the same one like twice before it's trashed," Cole said.

"I know. We go through quite the number of metal bats, and we don't even bother with wooden ones — splinters." I smirked as she cuddled next to me.

"Like they'd hurt you," she scoffed.

"No ,but it's still not fun to be hit with flying wood," I said as I heard Esme in the kitchen, carrying the cake out.

**Cole's POV**

I turned my head as the lights went off. The tiny flickers of "1" and "5" shaped candles lit the room as Esme carried the two tier pink cake into the living room. It was my first birthday cake, and oh my God, did she out do herself! I loved it! I mean, seriously, I would have loved a small cake for one, considering I would be the only one eating it, but this cake was so pretty I didn't want to eat it. Could I even eat it? It kinda looked like it was just for show. Wouldn't it be a crime to cut that amazing cake?

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear, Cole. Happy birthday to you…" they all sang together as Esme put the cake down in front of me.

Suddenly, a bright flash went off from beside me and I turned to see Rose with a camera.

"Oh," I said — still dazzled by the cake. My eyes went right back to it.

"Blow out the candles, munchkin!" Emmett said as tears welt up in my eyes.

"Cole, baby, are you okay?" Carlisle asked from beside me as his hand moved up and down on my back.

I nodded. "I've never had a cake before," I whispered, watching the two candles flicker in a trance.

"We know, sweetie. Is… is it too much?" Esme asked as she took her place beside me, her hand joining Carlisle's.

"I have a family that cares enough to not only acknowledge my birthday, but to give me a cake." I smiled. "I love it!" I giggled, sucking in a breath and blowing out the candles.

I only had one wish that I always had my family, and I could never doubt that, that wish would be granted. Everyone clapped and the lights came back on as the camera flashed again — blinding me.

"Did you wish for a pony? Isn't that what most human girls want?" Emmett asked.

I laughed. "What, so you could eat it?"

"Ha-larious. Horse's taste like shit." He grinned, standing up and hovering over me. "So, I think we're forgetting a very important part of every human's birthday. Don't you, Carlisle?" he asked as I turned to Carlisle.

What was forgotten? They knew I didn't really want anything, considering they gave me whatever I could want anytime, so it wasn't a gift. I got the scrapbook from Esme, Alice, Jasper, and Josh's gifts, and Emmett and Rose were taking me to Seattle in December for a touring Broadway play that we heard about. Besides, Carlisle got me flowers, balloons, and a bear. I didn't want anything else.

"What part?" I asked.

"Well, there's this tradition; most humans do it. You see, it's customary to give the birthday girl or boy a few swats on the bottom. Number of swats are related to age." Emmett grinned.

Crackers, he wasn't seriously going to try to spank me, was he? I eased off the couch and slid past him. He let me. Of course, he was going to make a game out of this!

"No."

He smirked, evilly. "Yes."

"Mommy, you're not going to let him _spank _me are you?" I said, jutting my lip out.

She just smiled. "It's good luck."

"That's the pinch at the end," Rose said, looking completely serious.

"No, no, no, no, no, no spanking and definitely no pinching!" I squealed.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes there will be fifteen spankings and a good old fashion pinch!" Emmett boomed, stalking towards me as I continued to back up.

"But, but you love me."

"We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Come here." Emmett laughed, holding his arms out.

"Daddy, help me," I said as he stood up.

"Of course, I'll help you. Emmett you are not spanking her" Carlisle said.

Sweet, dad was on my side! Ha, take that, Emmett!

Emmett frowned. His plan was foiled. "Carlisle, seriously, its tradition,"

"I know. Come here, sweetie" Carlisle said, holding his arms out. I quickly wrapped my arms around him in thanks. He surprised me by throwing me over his shoulder. "That's why I'm doing it." He laughed, plopping down on the couch and laying me over his lap. I struggled to get free. He tricked me!

"Daddy, please!" I said, trying not to giggle.

I'd never thought a silly birthday tradition would be this much fun.

"Struggling only makes it take longer," he said softly swatting my bottom. "One."

I laughed. "Daddy!"

"Two," he said, swatting again. "Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine." He placed a swat to each number. He was gentle, of course. It was barely a pat, but I continued to giggle and squirm.

"S…stop!" I giggled, meaning the complete opposite. Of course, I didn't want him to stop. I loved this.

"Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen." He let his hand hover before the last one. "Happy fifteenth," he said with a final swat, "birthday!" He laughed. "Emmett, would you like to do the honors?"

I looked up to find everyone laughing really hard. Emmett stepped forward and pinched my arm.

"A pinch to grow an inch — which you need — and good luck 'til next year!" He laughed as Carlisle sat me back up on his lap and pulled me close.

"Happy birthday, _tesoro_. I love you so much," he said as I reached up and kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, daddy," I said, resting my head against his still heart. "This was the best birthday anyone could ever wish for."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	44. Chapter 44

**Edited 8/15/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

"Morning," Cole mumbled as she slumped down onto the stool beside me, placing her head on the counter.

Last night was Halloween and Cole had gone out with Sarah to take her little sister trick-or-treating. She came home with a bag full of candy. She was so exhausted, it was still sitting on the counter.

Esme had left early this morning for Alaska to see Josh, and Rose and Emmett had left last night for an extended hunting trip. This weekend was my chance to make up for missing most of Cole's birthday. I loved spending time alone with Cole. I learned something new each time. A few weeks ago when Esme went hunting, I took her to the movies and learned she hated gummy bears. Sure, it wasn't very useful information, but at least I now knew what not to get her as a snack. Besides, I didn't care what I learned, as long as in the end, I knew something more about my daughter.

"Rough night?" I asked as she propped her face up on her arm.

"I'm so tired," she groaned. "But I'm good." She had a tired smile that was so cute on her face.

"Cereal?" I asked, standing up.

"If you wouldn't mind. Thank you."

I poured a bowl of Cheerio's, and then a glass of orange juice, placing them both next to her head as she lifted up. She dove in with her spoon, yawning in between.

"How do people stay up so late and be fine to wake up at like six? I'm exhausted!" she exclaimed.

"You were walking around all evening. You tired yourself out. You'll be fine."

"I could use another hour or two," she sighed.

"Ah, but school awaits. Now, you wouldn't want to miss that, would you?"

"No… never." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, I get to find out my mid-quarter grades today. I should have A's in most classes, but I don't know about English. We'll get our grade back on our papers today. If I did well on that, than I should have a high B or low A."

"Wonderful. I'm so proud of you."

I kissed her forehead before grabbing her bowl and glass to rinse them.

"Why's your lab coat here?" she asked, holding up the white jacket that I had laid on the bar with my bag.

"It needed to be washed."

She put her book bag down and flung it over her shoulders. It hung almost to her ankles, and was ridiculously large on her tiny frame. The sleeves went a few inches past her fingertips.

"How do I look? Can you see this? Me wearing a lab coat one day?"

"I would hope for your patient's sake it would fit. No need to suture yourself to them, but yes, I could see you wearing one. You look adorable." I smiled as she shrugged it off.

"It doesn't smell like you yet. You should probably work on that," she teased.

"Well, I do have to wear it every day, so I imagine it will before long. What do I smell like to you?" I asked, curious.

Esme said I smelled like clean linen and pine. I wondered if I smelled the same to humans.

"Like the forest, but cleaner, if that makes sense."

"So, clean linen and pine?"

"Yeah, basically," she said. "What do I smell like?"

"Honestly, there's nothing to compare you to. You're very sweet, like flowers or fruit. Maybe a mix between apples and cherry blossoms?"

She smirked. "I guess nothing about me is normal. I'm very unique."

"Extremely," I said, taking my coat from her and grabbing my bag. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, so the story if anyone asks where Em and Rose are?" she asked as I lead her out of the house and to the Mercedes.

"Rose went to visit her brother, and Emmett and Esme went with her."

I dropped Cole off at school and made sure to see her walk into the building with Sarah before driving the block to the hospital. I would be running the ER today. since I didn't want to get tied up in surgery, what with me being the only one here to pick Cole up. I went to my office first as usual, put my bag away, and pulled on my lab coat — which Cole's scent lingered on. It made me smile as I walked to the ER and signed in.

"A little giddy today, Dr. Cullen?" Debra — the charge nurse — asked as I made my way back to the station with a chart for her.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't stopped smiling all day. Not even when the kid in 4 almost threw up on your shoes."

"Oh yes, well, my daughter and I are spending the weekend together. I guess I'm just looking forward to it." I signed my name under my orders on the chart. "Speaking of the kid in 4, I want to give him more fluids before discharging him, to prevent dehydration. It's just a stomach bug and I've spoken with his mom," I said, passing her the chart as she handed me a new one.

"Got it. I hope you and your daughter have fun." She smiled as I turned away.

A few hours had past, and it was just about one-thirty — an hour until Cole was out of school. I would have to bring her back here for about another hour until my shift was over, but she didn't mind. She said she'd just stay in my office and do some homework until it was time to go home. Tonight, I had planned to take Cole out to dinner, and then maybe a movie. Tomorrow, I was taking her out to a field far enough from town that no one will hear. Just like I taught Esme, Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper, I'll teach her to play baseball, Cullen style with a little alteration considering she was human. Hopefully, we could get a game in before it was too cold out. It wouldn't be like usual considering there are only four vampires — not six — but we'd still be able to play. I knew Emmett is looking forward to playing just as much as I was. Sometimes, it was nice to use my natural strength and speed. Playing baseball gave me the chance.

As I finished up with another patient, I glanced at the clock; it was time to pick up Cole. I handed the chart off, signed out for lunch, and left the hospital. Unfortunately, there was a bit of traffic and I was running a few minutes late. When I finally pulled up to the school, the buses were gone and there were only a handful of kids outside. Cole wasn't one of them, so I concentrated on her scent and listened for her voice. She was outside somewhere, so I got out and followed her scent. What I found about had me in a blind rage. Two boys had Cole cornered against the building.

"Come on, baby," one of them said, about to touch her face

"Get off of her," I growled, pulling the boy away. He stumbled back.

Cole was shaking with her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks. I pressed my hands against her face and she flinched.

"Something wrong here?" an older woman asked, coming closer.

"These _boys _tried to assault my daughter!" I yelled

"D…d…daddy, home," Cole whispered softly, opening her eyes to me.

"Is that true? Mr. Taylor, Mr. Price?" the woman asked.

"We, uh, were just talking to her. Weren't we?" one of the boys asked, looking to Cole. A growl tried to escape my chest as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Is that true?" the woman asked Cole.

"No, it's not true!" I yelled again.

"I… I just wanna go home," Cole said, averting my gaze.

"Don't lie for them, sweetie."

"Let's go inside to my office. Dr. Cullen, correct?" the woman asked me.

"Yes."

"I'm Tina Marshall, the vice principle here," she said as she motioned us to follow her.

I pulled Cole close to me. She was still trembling as we walked into the building and to Tina's office.

"You two sit and stay," Tina warned the boys.

They plopped down in the plastic chairs as Cole and I followed her into the small office. She closed the door as I had Cole sit and took the seat next to her.

"What's your name, honey?" Tina asked.

"C…C…Cole," she stuttered.

"Cole, what happened outside?" Tina asked, pulling out a notepad and pen.

"I was… um… waiting for my dad. They… uh… came up to me said I was… pretty and asked." Cole gasped, trying very hard to control her breathing.

Tina looked up to Cole. "What did they ask?"

"If I needed a ride… they wanted me to come with them, but I said no. That's when my dad came." I rubbed her back as she wiped her tears.

"Did they touch you?" Tina asked

"No."

"One was about to," I said.

"But they never actually touched you?" Tina asked

Cole shook her head. "No."

"Then I'm afraid there's not much I can do but give them a warning. Did they say anything derogatory?"

"They called her baby," I said

"Again, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. They didn't break any rules. They were talking to your daughter. They didn't harass her or touch her." She put her pen down. "I'll call their parents and give them a warning, but that's all I can do. If they even talk to you again, Cole, tell me and then I might be able to do something since I'm giving them a warning."

"Okay."

"No, not okay. This isn't okay. They cornered her — trapped her there!" I yelled.

"Dr. Cullen, please, lower your voice," Tina asked. "I wish there was something else I can do, but my hands are tied. They didn't actually hurt your daughter ,and we have no way of knowing what might have happened."

"Dad, let's just go. You have to finish your shift," Cole said, tugging on my hand as I ground my teeth together, wanting so badly to hurt those boys.

"Come find me if they say anything else, honey," Tina said, looking apologetic.

Cole stood up and pulled my arm. I rose and pulled her into my side as we walked out. I glared at the boys as we went past them, holding Cole close. We walked to the Mercedes and I opened the door for her. She slid in silently and buckled her belt as I got in and started the car.

"I have to stop at the hospital and sign out. We'll go home," I said.

"No, I'm fine. You need to finish your shift."

"Your still trembling, _tesoro_."

"I'm fine."

She was silent for the rest of the ride. I pulled back into my spot and she got out with her book bag.

"We're going to go home," I told her.

"No, I'm really fine. They didn't hurt me."

"They didn't have to."

"I'm fine!" she said, raising her voice as she walked ahead of me towards the doors.

It took two steps to her four to catch up. I put my hand on her back and we walked to my office. She sat on the couch and opened her bag, pulling out a paper.

"Straight A's," she said, handing it to me with a sad smile.

"Absolutely wonderful! Can I keep this?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

I went to my desk and pulled one of my certificates out of a frame, replacing it with her paper as I placed it back on the book case.

"There. I'm so proud," I said, standing the certificate up against a row of books.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not that important to replace… what is that? An award?"

I grinned. "I have a cabinet at home full of awards. I only have one of these."

She giggled lightly. "It's not even a report card, just a progress report."

"Once I get your straight 'A' report card, I'll replace it," I said, pulling my lab coat back on. "Call me if you change your mind. I'll be back by four."

"Got it. Sick people await."

She smiled, still sadly, as I had an idea to maybe cheer her up.

"Hey, do you want to come with me? Be my shadow?"

I didn't miss the light in her eyes, even if it was just a small flicker.

"Can… can I do that?"

"Of course, it's only for an hour, but you might learn something."

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'd… I'd like that a lot."

"Let's go get you a temporary badge and I'll show you around," I said, placing my hand on her back and leading her out of the office.

I had Sally — an older woman in HR — print out a badge. More for Cole than anything else. Cole clipped it to her shirt and we headed back to the ER.

"Cole!" Linda said, smiling. She was the nurse who helped with Cole when she had her panic attack over a month ago. She quickly pulled Cole into a gentle hug. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm… good," Cole lied.

To me it was obvious that she wasn't really good. What happened today was something we'd need to discuss, because I have a feeling she wasn't telling me the whole story. By the time I got to Cole, she had dried tears on her cheeks — which led me to believe she was cornered longer than she said. She lied to the vice principle and me.

"Cole here is shadowing me. Do we have anything she might be able to observe?" I asked.

"How does she feel about stitches?" Linda asked, passing me a chart.

"Cole?"

"I can like, watch you stitch someone up?" she asked as her eyes brightened.

"Simple cooking accident. Laceration to the palm of the left hand. It shouldn't be too grisly," I teased patting her head with the folder.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked.

"Bed 2. Let's make sure Mrs. Leary is okay with you watching," I said guiding, her to the small room. I knocked on the door frame and slid open the curtain.

"Mrs. Leary, I'm Dr. Cullen. Sounds like you need a few stitches, hmm?"

"Uh, yes, silly me," the woman said. "My husband sharpens the knifes, tells me to be careful, and I cut myself."

"It happens. Do you mind if Cole observes? She's thinking of becoming a doctor, so she's shadowing me for the rest of the afternoon," I said, washing my hands.

"No, not at all. Aren't you just the cutest little thing!" Mrs. Leary said.

Cole blushed. "Thanks."

I rolled a stool over with my foot for Cole, and then grabbed another from the bed next door for me. I pulled on some gloves and rolled closer to the woman.

"All right, let's have a look," I said, taking her hand and placing it on the tray over the sterile drape. "The edges are clean, so this will be relatively quick. I'll just give you a shot of lidocaine, clean this up, and put in a few sutures."

Cole actually raised her little hand. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course," I told her, smirking as I began to flush Mrs. Leary's hand.

"What if the edges weren't clean?"

"We'd straighten them up. I'd cut away any jagged edges, so that it will line up as straight as possible. This wound was caused by a non-serrated, very sharp knife."

"How did you know?" Mrs. Leary asked.

"The edges. No teeth marks. It's normally quite simple to tell, in all honesty." I prepared the shot. "Slight pinch," I told her, injecting the medication.

"Amazing. That barely hurt!" she exclaimed.

"He's really good," Cole said with a knowing smirk.

"You've received stitches from him?"

"Yeah, and shots, and blood draws, oh, and I can't forget the dislocated pinky or bump on the head." Cole laughed.

Mrs. Leary laughed with her. "You two are probably close."

"I'd hope so. She's my daughter," I said proudly.

"Oh, I never would have guessed," she said as I began the stitches.

"There is no resemblance," Cole said as Mrs. Leary kept glancing between me and Cole. "I'm adopted."

"Oh! Of course, of course. I apologize for gawking."

"Don't worry 'bout it," Cole told her. "Dr. Cullen," Cole smirked, addressing me as such, "the tread can be different sizes, right?"

"There are a multitude of thickness and types. I tend to use the smallest thread possible to lessen the scar."

She giggled. "Neat."

"I like to think so." I smiled tying off the last suture. "All done. I'll dress this, write you a prescription for an antibiotic and pain reliever, and then you'll be good to go."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen. Did you learn anything good, Cole?" Mrs. Leary asked.

Cole smiled. "Yep."

"Good luck with becoming a doctor. I hope to never see either of you again, at least not in here," Mrs. Leary said as I taped her hand.

"Like I tell all my patients, it was great meeting you, let's not do this again. A nurse will be in shortly with your discharge paperwork and orders. Keep the wound dry and call your primary as soon as possible to set up and appointment to have the sutures removed. Take care." I smiled, pulling the latex gloves off and standing up.

Cole hopped off her stool, which she had lifted up to see, so she did actually "hop". It was cute and, amazingly, she didn't trip.

"Dr. Cullen, Dr. Neely is here. She said if you want, you can go ahead and go. She's already signed in and seeing patients. She says thank you, by the way," Linda said as I handed her the chart. The doctor relieving me had arrived early.

"But we've only seen one person," Cole said.

"He has to bring you back!" Linda told her.

"Next time I work in the ER and you're off of school, you can shadow me the whole day, if you'd like," I told Cole, getting a smile out of her.

She smirked. "You better."

We went straight home by quarter after three. Once we got home, Cole decided to sit at the kitchen bar and do her homework. I thought it'd be best to wait until she was done to bring up the fact she lied to me and the vice principle. I wasn't concerned that the boys had actually hurt her. I'd smell them on her if they had, and they wouldn't have gotten away at all if that was the case. No, I was more concerned about her mental state and what they said to her. Cole didn't talk easy. She'd rather lie and say she was fine then share what's really going on. Usually, that led to a nightmare and a panic attack in the middle of the night — which I dearly wanted to prevent.

"Damn it," Cole cursed as her pencil broke — she had been pressing too hard

"Cole," I warned as she rolled her eyes. Her good mood after shadowing me was gone.

"Sorry," she muttered, getting a new pencil from her bag — a mechanical one this time. Probably a good choice with her attitude.

I held her hand, preventing her from writing. "Stop."

She didn't look up at me. "I need to finish this."

"Look at me."

"Why?" she asked, keeping her head down.

"Cole, look at me."

She lifted her head, looking straight ahead. Her eyes moved to the corner, just barely glancing at me.

"What?" she asked as I pressed my hand against the right side of her face. She shrugged me off.

I cut straight to the point. "Why are you lying?"

"Wha… what are you talking about?" she asked, blinking as I breathed in the salty tears forming in her eyes.

"Those boys," I suppressed a growl, "had to have had you cornered for longer than you told us. They said more than what you told us. Now, I need to know what they said and why you didn't tell the truth."

"I'm not lying," she whispered.

"You're not telling the whole truth."

"Why does it even matter!" she yelled, turning towards me.

"You're hurting. That's what matters," I said, gently taking the pencil from her hand and holding it. "I love you, and I can't stand seeing you hurt."

"It's gonna happen again," she whispered.

"Did they threaten you?"

"No." She shook her head. "They're losers who think every girl in the school wants them. I don't, and they tried to convince me I should with words like "baby" and "sweet cheeks". They really did just want me to come with them. They never hurt me or touched me. They're just idiots who saw an opportunity to get something they haven't had."

"Then what's going to happen again?"

"Mitchell, Brett, and Ian then Mark… I'm easy to hurt and use. I must ooze it, because all people want to do is hurt me in the one way I can't let happen again."

"Mitchell, Brett, and Ian were the foster boys that molested you. You think someone's going to do _that _again to you?"

"Why am I such an easy target?" she cried. "Wasn't what those boys did bad enough? Why did Mark have to… _rape _me? Why would God let that happen to me more than once! By someone else?" she yelled. "I'm terrified of it happening again. I feel like it will."

"I won't let anyone do that to you again."

"You weren't there today. If they had more sinister plans, you weren't there to stop them. If they had wanted to do that, you would have walked in on it. It would have happened. You wouldn't have stopped it."

"I was late and something like that could have happened. You're right; I wasn't there."

"Don't blame yourself, please?" she cried as I wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'm not saying this so you can blame yourself. I'm just saying… why? Why me? I understand life's not fair, but for that to happen twice? That's not right. It shouldn't have happened twice, so what makes me want to believe it won't happen again?" she asked. "Shouldn't that be a onetime occurrence? Honestly, what's the likely hood of it happening to me by two different sets of people? Probably not that good, so that leads me to believe there's something about me that draws people in. We both know people either love me or hate me. I lived fourteen years with people who hated me — that wanted to hurt me. One good year? Is that all I get?"

"Truthfully, I don't know the statistics of people being assaulted by more than one person on different occasions. I do agree it shouldn't happen. Once should be bad enough. It shouldn't happen at all."

"I feel like a constant victim."

"You're a survivor."

"I don't feel like it. I feel like I'm just waiting for it to happen again."

"For now on, if Emmett's not at school with you, you don't go. At least until you feel safer. But, baby, I think it's time to look into other options. You need real therapy, not just talking to me, mom, Emmett, or Rose. You need to talk to someone whose life work revolves around counseling sexual assault survivors. You have to talk to someone who knows how to help you."

She nodded, sniffling. "Maybe your right," she whispered. "I don't think you guys can help me anymore. I need professional help."

"I'll find you the best."

She smiled sadly. "I know you will."

"Let's get cleaned up and go somewhere nice for dinner," I suggested.

"I'd like that." She nodded. "And tomorrow, you'll still teach me to play baseball your way, right?"

"Of course." I smiled, pulling her close to me.

"You know, the last time we spent a weekend alone together, a vampire tried to kill me and set off a horrid chain of events," she said. "Let's not let that happen again."

"Deal. Don't worry; Alice is on constant watch," I promised.

"All seeing pixie." She smirked as my phone buzzed with a text.

It was from Alice and I read it out loud, laughing. "I know what you just said," I read. "Stop calling me pixie, munchkin."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	45. Chapter 45

**Edited 8/15/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

"_Tesoro,_" someone whispered, running their hand through my hair.

I instantly knew that voice and, of course, he was the only one that called me that, so it wasn't hard to figure out who it was. Daddy.

"Mmhmm?" I groaned as the bed sunk down a little.

I was lying on my stomach with a pillow under my arm. His hand left my head and rested on my back near my shoulders as he laid down next to me.

"It's almost nine. I was just checking if you wanted to get up."

"Nuh-huh," I whispered as he chuckled.

"Then I guess we can lie here a little longer. Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

I shook my head no into the pillow as he kissed my head. I flopped around on the bed until I was lying on his stomach — my favorite spot in the world.

Last night after that horrible talk, we actually had a fun night. He took me to a fancy restaurant in Seattle and even pretended to eat. We dressed up. I wore a dress Alice sent me; it was strapless with ruffles in ivory and a black sash. Carlisle wore a suit — Armani, of course. A nice grey pinstripe with a dark grey tie. He looked dashingly handsome. Everything was so fancy. I used more forks than ever before and the food! Oh my God, the food was amazing, I even snuck a little bit from Carlisle's. He ordered my second choice so I could try it, so technically, I didn't sneak anything. We saw the space needle, which was pretty cool, and then briefly walked by the water before it got to cold that my coat, his coat, and gloves couldn't keep me warm. It was an amazing night. The sky was clear, so we could see the stars. And it didn't rain, which was always a bonus.

"You're smiling," Carlisle whispered.

"Thank you for last night. I had a blast."

"You're very welcome, my dear. I'm glad you had fun. Are you still up to some baseball?"

"Definitely… In like, a few hours." I giggled.

"Tell me when your awake for good. I'll make you breakfast in bed!"

"Oh, you know what I want?"

He laughed. "With you, I haven't a clue."

"French toast with lots of syrup and like three strawberries on the side." I smirked.

"Tell me when to start cooking."

"You really don't have to make me breakfast like that, but I mean, if you want to…"

"Why not? I'll get you all hyped up on sugar and have you running around the field." He chuckled.

"I don't run," I said in complete seriousness.

Running led to me getting hurt. I trip with Emmett during gym class, even. It wasn't safe, even with vampires or a doctor nearby.

"True. No need to visit the ER on my day off, though, I'm sure they'd love to see you." He chuckled. "Probably not injured, though"

I closed my eyes and let my head bob up and down with his breathing. It lulled me back to sleep.

"_Tesoro_, it's eleven."

"Hmm?"

"It's eleven o'clock in the morning. Maybe it's time to get up?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure" I said groggily, lifting up on one arm and rubbing my eyes with the other.

I opened both eyes to find him watching me with a concerned look. "Are you ok?" he asked

"What?"

"You don't normally sleep so much unless you're not feeling well. I'm just making sure you're feeling well."

"Oh, yeah, no, I feel fine. Just tired." I smiled.

I was actually a little more tired than yesterday morning. Wasn't gonna tell him that, though. No need to have him freak out and think I was sick when I wasn't.

"Would you still French Toast and strawberries?"

"Yeah, that still sounds good."

"Okay. You go shower — wear something warm — and I'll get cooking. We'll drive the jeep as close to the field as we can, but we still have about a half mile. So, I'll have to carry you the rest of the way. I'll go slowly." He smirked.

"Alrighty. You know you have to get up first, right?" I giggled.

"Are you rushing me?"

"Maybe." I smirked as his hand went to my side and tickled

I laughed really loud and snorted before pushing him off. He stood up and held his hand out to help me off the low bed. Kissing my forehead, he whispered "I love you" and went downstairs. I went straight to my bathroom, turned the shower on nice and warm, and then peeled off my camisole and shorts before standing in the shower.

The water felt good on my neck. It was a little stiff for some reason. Probably stress or something. Once my hair was washed and my body clean, I turned the knob off to halt the three large shower heads and pulled my large fluffy towel around my body before stepping out.

I decided on a pair of jeans and boots, and then a warm sweater and vest over top. I grabbed my hat and gloves, and then went downstairs. Carlisle had my plate sitting on the counter as he wiped his hands off.

"Perfect timing," he said.

"Did a little pixie have anything to do with that?"

"Possibly." He smirked as I sat down.

I noticed he had a baseball shirt on over a long sleeve grey shirt. He wore black pants and tennis shoes, and of course, a pinstriped scarf that hung loosely around his neck.

"Looks good. Thank you," I said, picking up my fork.

I ate quickly, excited to play catch with Carlisle — excited to show him that I could pitch. Emmett said I was good and I thought I was pretty good, too.

"I have something for you," he said as I got up to clean my plate.

He disappeared for a few seconds then returned, appearing out of thin air. Trust me; that took a while to get used to. He held a small clothing box with a bow on top and placed it on the counter.

"Open it," he said as I stood back in front of it.

I lifted the top to find a shirt, or jersey I guess you'd call it, just like his. Only smaller, of course. I lifted it up and turned it around. The back said "CULLEN" in big letters. His said the same thing.

I smiled. "I love it!"

"I'm glad," he said as I set the shirt down and hugged him. "You're officially part of team Cullen."

I took my vest off and buttoned the shirt up over my sweater, and then put the vest back on.

"How do I look?" I asked, spinning around. Whoa, too dizzy. He held me steady and chuckled.

"You look perfect. The equipment's already in the jeep. Are you ready?" he asked and I nodded. "Then let's go. I brought some water for you."

We walked out to the garage and to Emmett's jeep. I climbed in the passenger side and looked in the backseat. There were three bags, one large on with what I assumed to be bats, and two smaller ones. He climbed in the driver's side and opened the garage door.

"Harness, darling," he said as I reached back and buckled the harness over me, fiddling with the clasp that I couldn't get to lock. "Here I'll do it." He smiled, taking the two pieces and locking them together easily.

"Show off." I smirked as he laughed.

"Hold on tight. There's no roads in the woods," he said, backing out.

We got on the 101, and then pulled off and onto a dirt road, which soon turned to the forest floor. It was a very bumpy ride, and I quickly realized why I needed the harness and not just a seatbelt. I was bouncing everywhere as he roared through the forest, barely missing a few trees along the way. We pulled into a semi-cleared area by a waterfall. It was beautiful and I quickly unlocked the harness — easier off than on, apparently — and got out.

"Wow," I whispered, in awe. It was so beautiful.

"Isn't it lovely? Esme and I like to stop here when we hunt — just watch the waterfall and listen to nature. The field is about a half mile. I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to take the bags first. I'll run; it shouldn't take but a minute," he said, throwing the bags over his shoulders and shutting the door.

"M'kay. Hey. leave me your phone! I forgot mine and I want a picture," I said as he smiled and pulled his phone from his pocket, tossing it to me before kissing my forehead and disappearing into the forest once more.

I turned the phone on and was met by his wallpaper. It was me. He changed it! I had that picture of him and Esme on there. The picture was literally just me, sleeping with my mouth open just a touch. Nothing special about it, if anything, I looked horrible with my hair everywhere. I quickly snapped a few pictures of the waterfall as he got back.

"Good ones?" he asked.

"You should change your background," I said, handing him the phone back.

"Maybe after today I'll have a new one." He smiled. "Okay, I can carry you or you can ride on my back. It's up to you, and I promise not to go too fast."

"Can I have a piggy back ride?" I smirked as he crouched down.

"Hop on, baby."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he stood up, while I wrapped my legs around is torso. He started off at a brisk walk, and then a slow jog before running at human speed through the forest. He was careful not to go too fast, since I got sick at those speeds. It took less than ten minutes to get to a large clearing a little higher on the mountain. There was a break in the trees, and if it had been sunny, it would have been an amazing place to lay and relax.

Carlisle bent back down and I slid off of his back, keeping a hand on him until I was sure I had my balance. Even at the human pace, I got dizzy and my head ached a little. But I shook it off with some blinking and let him go. He opened one bag that held a bunch of baseballs and placed it next to me, and then went a little ways away and grabbed a bat out of the bag.

"Ready?" I asked, picking out a ball.

"Let's see that arm." He smiled.

I wound up like Emmett had showed me and pitched. The bat cracked against the ball — not nearly as loud as with Emmett — and flew to the other end of the clearing.

"Great!" he yelled.

"That wasn't vampire strength!" I yelled back.

"You want to see my strength?" I nodded excitedly. "Okay, pitch again!" he yelled and I grabbed another ball.

I threw the ball and thunder broke out. The ball was gone and Carlisle stood with a smirk and tossed the bat up in the air over and over.

"How was that?" he asked.

"Show off."

"How about you try batting?" he asked, running over to me with a new bat.

"Um, okay."

I took it as he had me follow him back to where he had been. He brought a ball with him and bent down to the bag. He pulled something else out — a tee like they use for little kids.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?"

"I'll show you how to bat, and then I'll pitch to you. Okay?" he asked, placing the ball on the tee.

"Okay."

He got behind me and bent down. "I'm going to position your feet," he said, taking my left foot and moving it slightly, and then moving the right. "Okay, this is how you're going to stand," he said. "Back straight, knees just slightly bent, but don't lock them." He reached back into the bag and pulled out a black helmet. "Just for safety." He smiled, putting it on my head before getting back behind me. He put his hands over mine on the bat, moving them a little until it looked right. "We're gonna go slow."

"Okay."

"Go back," he said, pulling our arms back. "And swing." He let go and I swung, missing the ball completely. "That's okay. Try again without me. I might be hindering you," he said standing to the side.

I pulled the bat back and swung, keeping my eye on the ball. I hit it this time! It flew a little, and then rolled to the ground about ten feet away. Pretty sucky, but at least I hit it. He replaced the ball and I went again and again, each time getting the ball further and further away until it actually went pretty far.

"Ha-ha!" I cheered, throwing the bat down and wrapping my arms around him.

"That was great!" he said, swinging me around before placing my feet back on the ground. That made me really dizzy, and I had to close my eyes as my head hurt more than before. "Cole?" he asked as I kept my eyes closed.

"I'm good," I said, opening my eyes back up. The cloudy sky seemed brighter than normal. "I'm tired," I sighed, shaking my head.

"Hmm, are you dizzy?"

"You just swung me around."

"Headache?"

"Not really. I'm fine, just tired is all." I smiled

"We should probably go home then. We've been out here for two hours," he said. looking at his watch.

"Can we do this again?"

"Anytime you'd like," he promised as he ran and picked all the bags up. "I'll be right back, _tesoro_. Are you certain you're all right?"

"Yeah, positive," I said trying figure out if I was lying.

I was dizzy, my head ached, and I couldn't fight this tired feeling. Maybe the constant go of school of getting to me and that's why I was so tired. He quickly kissed my forehead, pausing for a second, before he pulled back before saying he loved me and disappearing. He got back in less than a minute and I climbed on his back as he ran at a human speed to the jeep.

"I had so much fun. Thank you, daddy," I said as I tightened my grip, resting my head against the back of his shoulder.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	46. Chapter 46

**Edited 8/15/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

It was just past four in the morning when I sat in my study reading a medical journal. I heard a very soft moan coming from Cole, and promptly put the book down to go to her room. Yesterday, before I had left to put the bags in the jeep, I kissed Cole's forehead and found her to be warmer than usual. Nowhere near dangerously feverish, probably barely ninety-nine degrees. To be honest, I wasn't surprised she was coming down with something. She hadn't been ill since the summer, and that was just a minor cold. Now that it was late fall, I expected her to get sick once more. Most humans did around this time. Her lungs were clear, her heart rate perfect, so I didn't suspect anything more than a head cold or minor flu. Until I got in her room. She had a pillow over her face and her blankets were strung over the floor off of her bed.

"Baby girl," I said as she moaned very loudly.

I moved the pillow and she flipped her body, so her face was dug into the once behind her head.

"It hurts," she cried as I snaked my hand between the pillow and felt her forehead. Now she was burning up, close to one-hundred and two, if not higher.

"_Tesoro,_ what hurts?"

"Head!" she cried out.

"Can you turn over for me, baby?" I asked. She slowly with a few whimpers, turned back onto her back so I could see her. I didn't touch the light. It wasn't necessary and if her head hurt, I didn't want to cause any more pain, since she'd be sensitive to it. "When did the headache start?"

"This… isn't a headache. It's torture!" she sobbed, covering her eyes.

"When did it start?"

"It barely hurt yesterday, but it got bad a little bit ago. Really bad, daddy. Really, really bad," she cried.

I was extremely worried now. Cole wasn't a complainer, and by saying it even hurt at all scared the hell out of me.

"I need to sit you up, sweetie," I said, putting my hand behind her back. She whimpered as I helped her up, keeping her eyes closed the tears sprung out. "I need you to do something for me, all right?" I asked, already formulating a diagnosis.

The horrid headache could mean many, many things, but for some reason one stuck out to me and I wanted to test it. If she could do this, than I was wrong and I'd never be happier to be wrong.

"Okay."

"Bend your head down so your chin touches your chest."

Her eyes closed tight in pain as she moved barely a centimeter.

"I can't!" she cried as I heard my phone buzz from my study. It was probably Alice telling me what I already knew.

"Okay, okay, lie back down and I'll be right back," I said, standing up and running back to my study just in time for the phone to ring.

"Hello," I answered.

"Why's Cole going to be in the hospital?" Alice asked with a shriek.

"What did you see?"

"Her, with her eyes closed in a hospital bed and IV's in her arms. What's wrong with her?"

"I think… no, I'm positive she is sick with something that could be quite serious. I'm taking her to the hospital now. Can you still see her future?" I asked, pulling on my shoes and looking through my medical bag for a mask. If Cole had what I think, then she could be contagious and get other humans sick. I couldn't risk that.

"Yeah, she's okay at Thanksgiving, but I see her out of school for a little while."

"Okay. Where's Esme?"

"Her and Josh are out hunting. She won't have any cell service, and they won't be back until after seven tonight before Esme leaves to go home."

"Can you go get her?"

"Of course. This sounds and looks really serious, Carlisle. What do I tell her?"

"Just that Cole's ill and she needs to call me. I'll explain to her myself."

"Okay. I'm leaving now, but as of now they're in the middle of Canada, so it'll take me a few hours to find her and even then, it'll take even longer for her to get home."

"I know. Just get her."

"Please, call when you know something concrete. Jasper's just as worried."

"I will."

"Okay. Love you. Tell Cole we love her"

"I will. I love you all, too. Goodbye."

I hung up and tucked the phone back in my pocket. I found a coat and scarf, putting them on, I went back to Cole's room. I went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and hooded sweatshirt for her, before walking over to her bed.

"All right, baby. I'm going to help you get dressed. We're going to the hospital."

"No," she whined.

"Yes, I need to figure out exactly what's wrong. It'll be okay. I'll be right there with you the whole time."

She whimpered as I sat her back up. I gently slid the sweatshirt over her head, holding her neck so it didn't move to cause her pain. I then pulled each of her arms through. She was so weak the little help she gave me, didn't do much. Next, I placed both of her legs into the sweatpants, slid them up as far as I could, and then lifted her to pull them over her shorts.

"Ow," she cried.

"I know, baby. It's going to be okay."

I looked to her bed side table, finding a sleeping mask, which would work perfectly for what I wanted. Any light would hurt her, so if I kept her eyes covered, she'd at least feel somewhat better. "Let's put this on okay?" I asked as she opened her eyes and looked at what I had in my hands.

"Okay."

She sniffled and pinched her brow in pain. I put the mask over her eyes before finding her winter coat and putting that on over her sweatshirt. It was very early morning in November. In other words, it was freezing outside.

"Okay, baby, I'm going to pick you up," I warned her as she moved an arm to place around my neck.

I lifted her up and walked from her room, down the stairs, and to the garage. I gently sat her down in the passenger side of the Mercedes and made sure the mask kept her eyes covered. We'd quickly encounter street lights and other car's headlights.

"All right, baby, let me know if you need anything," I told her, buckling her belt and closing the door.

I started the car and drove away. I stayed slow, so the motion didn't upset her stomach. She was lucky she hadn't been nauseous yet with that headache.

"What's… wrong with… me?" She grimaced.

"I believe you have a disease called meningitis. The horrid headache, fever, and neck stiffness point to it, but we can't know for sure without some tests. There are different types of the disease, as well; bacterial and viral. If this is what you have, we'd really prefer it to be viral."

I prayed it was viral.

"What… difference?" she asked, always curious.

"Bacterial can be quickly fatal and contagious. Viral isn't as fatal. It can resolve itself with time and supportive care."

"Medicines?"

"The ER doctor will start you right away on antibiotics, no matter what. Once we know what type of disease it is, you might not need the antibiotics, since they don't help viral meningitis. If it's bacterial, more tests will be ran to find out exactly what caused it for targeted therapy. You're going to be okay, sweetie."

_Please, dear God! Let her be okay_!

"It hurts so much… though," she whimpered.

"I know and you'll be given something as soon as possible, baby. Here, take my hand," I said, touching her hand so she could take it.

As we got closer to the hospital, I had to use my hand to shift, so I let hers go. I pulled into my spot in the parking lot and carried Cole inside after placing the mask I had pulled from my medical bag over her mouth to be safe. If this is bacterial, I couldn't risk an outbreak.

The ER was empty. Literally, there was no one in the waiting room. I held Cole close to me as I entered. She burrowed her face into the crease of my arm since the bright lights tried to peak through the sleeping mask.

"Margret," I said to the receptionist. "I need a private exam room now. I'm quite certain my daughter has meningitis."

"Oh my, um," she said, clicking her keyboard. "Room three is open and clean. I'll start a chart. What's her name again?"

"Nicole Lynn Cullen. She's fifteen," I told her before walking to the double doors, which she opened for me and stepped through. I was met by Betty, the night charge nurse who already wore a mask.

"Meningitis?" she asked, wide-eyed, fearful of an outbreak.

"I believe so, but symptoms started slowly, so hopefully it's viral. She's been vaccinated, as well," I told her as we walked quickly to the private exam room.

She opened the door so I could step in with Cole. The gurney was freshly made and I placed Cole gently on it.

"Ah," Cole gasped as the mask over her eyes moved slightly. I turned the main lights off and the small overhead one on for Betty.

"Who's here?" I asked.

"Dr. Robins just started his shift, actually. He's on his way in. Otherwise, Dr. Green is here and Dr. Lows is just about to leave," Betty said as she pulled over a vitals cart and handed me a blanket that I placed over the sheet I had already covered Cole in.

"Da… dad," Cole whimpered as I watched her stomach twitch and grabbed a bed pan from the counter to place under chin. I helped her sit up and pulled the mask off of her face as she vomited.

"Ah… uh… ow," she groaned as the door opened with Margret, who held a chart for Cole and an ID bracelet.

Betty took them and had her leave again, before closing the door. She handed me the bracelet and started to take Cole's vitals.

"Okay, baby, I'm going to put a bracelet on your wrist," I told Cole as the door opened again.

"Vitals, symptoms?" Dr. Robins asked fixing his mask.

"BP is 94/50, pulse is 98bpm, respirations are perfect, and temp is… 102.9," Betty told him.

"She's been very tired for the last few days. Her headache started late yesterday, getting progressively worse. The fever was barely 99.9 last night. Sensitivity to light and sounds, and now she's vomited once," I told him as he grabbed another mask and handed it to me. I put it on for show. Even if it were possible for me to contract illnesses, I had already been with Cole non-stop since this started.

"Cole, I'm Dr. Robins. You probably don't remember me. I'm going to listen to your chest and I need you to breathe deeply for me," he said, putting his stethoscope in his ears, and then reached into her sweatshirt to place the bell. "Breathe norming, darling," he asked. "Good." He moved the bell. "All right, I need you to sit up." I helped Cole up, keeping a hand to hold her there as he pressed the bell to her back. "Now, deep breathes, for me." He moved the bell around as I listened intently with him. "All right. Good, lungs are clear," he said as I laid her back down gently.

"She needs fluids, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and something for pain," I told him.

"We'll get those started, and then we'll need to do an LP," he said as I nodded.

I'd much rather do the lumbar puncture, but I couldn't. I just hoped he was good at numbing the spinal column. Some doctors rush through the anesthetic to get the procedure done, and that dearly hurts patients.

"Here's a gown," Betty said, pulling out the light blue hospital gown. "Do you want to step out?"

"No, I'll help her," I said, taking it from her and laying it across Cole's lap. "Turn the lights off all the way, please?"

"Sure."

"Okay, _tesoro_, I'm going to take your clothing off and help you into a gown. Is that all right, or would you rather Nurse Betty help you?"

"You," she whispered.

"All right, keep your eyes closed."

I sat her up and got behind her to hold her up. I removed the sleeping mask, carefully raised her sweatshirt, pulled her arms out, and then lifted it over her head. I tossed it over with her coat and mine. Next, I did the tank top, leaving her bare chested for not even a second before covering her with the gown to keep her comfortable. I laid her back down and moved the blankets from her legs. From her waist, I pulled the sweatpants and shorts until they were off, and then replaced the blankets and covered her eyes once more with the sleeping mask.

"There we are, sweetheart. Now, Betty's going to start an IV and give you some medications — one of which will help with your pain," I told her as I pulled the stool over and sat down, taking her hand in mine.

"Okay," she said as Betty retrieved the supplies and returned.

She quickly set up the IV and took a few vials of blood before connecting the saline and antibiotics, and then injected a pain reliever.

"I'm all done, sweetie. Are you cold?" Betty asked.

"Nuh-uh," she whimpered as I watched her stomach twitch again.

I grabbed the bed pan once more and placed it under her chin. She gagged, trying to hold it in.

"Go ahead," I whispered as she vomited again with a cry. "Can she get an antiemetic, please?" I asked, brushing her hair back. It was up on the top of her head in a loose bun with little fly aways from the clip that held her bangs.

"Daddy, I don't feel good," she whimpered.

"I'll talk to Dr. Robins about the antiemetic," Betty said, exchanging pans with me and giving me a towel to wipe Cole's face. "I'm sure he'll order something. I'll also find out how long until he can do the LP."

"Would you mind getting her a glass of water?" I asked, gently caressing Cole's fevered cheek. She nodded and exited the small room.

"What's… an LP?" Cole asked.

"A lumbar puncture. Also known as a spinal tap; it's a test. The doctor will take some fluid surrounding your spinal cord and it'll be tested for bacteria and a few other things. Hopefully, they don't find any bacteria and you have viral meningitis."

"Does it hurt?" she cried.

"You'll be numbed with a local anesthetic — like with stitches. A needle will be inserted between two of your vertebras in your lower back and the spinal fluid with drip out to be collected. It'll be uncomfortable, but hopefully not painful."

She pouted. "A big needle?"

"You won't see it," I told her, kissing her temple softly.

"I really don't feel good, daddy," she whined softly.

"I know, baby, but it's going to be okay. I promise," I told her, pressing my hand to the left side of her face, and then gently pressing my forehead against the right. Closing my eyes, I kissed her cheek softly through my mask. "I love you, _tesoro,_" I whispered as Dr. Robins knocked on the door and entered with Betty close behind, rolling a tray.

"We're going to do the LP now," he said as Betty placed the tray by Cole's left side.

She grabbed a syringe and injected it into Cole's IV line — the antiemetic, I assumed. Next, she grabbed a small medicine cup which held two white pills. Acetaminophen for Cole's fever.

"Cole, can you swallow these for me?" she asked, holding out the cup.

Cole's hand came up slowly. Her face pinched in pain as Betty placed the capsules in her little hand. She brought it to her mouth, slowly, trying to be sure she didn't drop them since she couldn't see, and threw the pills back into her mouth. Betty held the cup of water with a straw to her lips, so she could sip. She swallowed them quickly.

"No," Cole whispered as I placed the pan back in front of her face just in time for another bout.

"Let's give her IV acetaminophen," Dr. Robins suggested, while I wiped Cole's face, worried.

This was the third time in less than an hour she had vomited. Betty left and quickly returned with the liquid medication, injecting it into her IV. Betty, without warning to Cole, lowered the gurney — making Cole gasp then cry.

"Shhh now, darling. It's all right. Dr. Robins is going to begin the LP. The gurney is going to be laid flat and I'll help position you on your right side, facing me in the fetal position."

She whimpered "okay" very softly. Betty laid the gurney flat, while I held Cole up, and then laid her down and helped her onto her side. I pulled her knees up and she opened her mouth and mouthed "ow". "This might hurt some, baby, but I'm going to lower your chin to your chest." I placed one hand on the back of her head and the other under her chin. I moved her neck as her whimpers grew louder and louder until I was done. "I'm done, baby girl. It's all right; I'm done."

"Okay, Cole, first thing I'm going to do is clean your back. The betadine will be cold, and for that I apologize," Dr. Robins said as another knock came upon the door.

It opened just a touch to reveal Linda. "May I come in?" she asked.

"Wear a mask," Dr. Robins said as he opened Cole's gown.

I adjusted it for him, so it exposed her entire back and left side, fixing the blanket to keep her modesty.

"Hey, Cole. How are you doing, honey?" Linda asked, coming around to stand behind me. She noticed the mask over Cole's eyes and realized she couldn't see her. "It's Linda."

"Hi," Cole responded meekly.

"She's very sensitive to the light right now. Did you just get here?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just signed in and saw Cole's name on the board. Its meningitis?" she asked, concerned.

"Most likely. Hopefully, it's just viral.".

"Ah," Cole gasped as Dr. Robins began spreading the betadine.

"I know, baby; it's cold," I said, rubbing her cheek with my right hand as her hand clutched my other one.

"How long is this gonna take?" Cole asked

"At least a half hour. You're going to feel me prodding a little, and then I'll anesthetize the area," Dr. Robins told her.

"Just hold my hand, baby. I'm right here and I love you," I told her.

He worked as quickly as he could. She squeezed my hand tight as the local went in, but relaxed a bit once it was over.

"My head feels better," she said softly as we waited for the local to take effect.

"That's good, _tesoro_. It means the pain medication is helping," I told her with a smile she couldn't see.

"Can I try to take the mask off? I need to see you," she said.

I gently lifted the mask to rest it on her forehead. She squeezed her eyes and my hand tight for the first few seconds before blinking rapidly.

"Oh, it's so bright," she moaned.

"Let's cover your eyes again," I said, beginning to lower the mask. She stopped me, resting her hand over mine. She forced her eyes to meet mine.

"I love you, daddy. I just needed to see you," she told me, dropping her hand so I could place the mask back on her forehead. "You look kinda ridiculous in that mask." She smirked.

"I think I look dashing." I chuckled, caressing her cheek.

"No, your face looks funny without your smile," she teased lightly.

"My face looks funny?"

"Little bit," she said as she jerked forward just as Robins checked the position once more by marking it with the cap of a syringe.

"You have to hold very still, darling. Carlisle, would you please hold her." Robins asked.

"Of course," I said, bending down. I placed one arm on the back of Cole's legs and the other under her head. I rested my head against her shoulder.

"Even breathes. Don't jerk, please, Cole. I'm very serious about that. I'm putting a needle into your spine. If you jerk, I could hit your spinal cord and cause serious damage," he warned.

"No need to frighten herm" I said.

"I apologize." He picked up the spinal needle. I lifted my head to watch. "All right, Cole, here we go," he told her as he pressed the needle into her back.

"Oh," Cole said.

"Does it hurt?" I asked, fearful.

"Pressure. It feels weird, is all."

I let my right hand rub small circles behind her knee and my left caressed the side of her face to keep her calm as I heard the two pops signaling Robins was in. He removed the stylet from the needle and clear fluid dripped out. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear. a very good sign this wasn't bacterial.

"It looks good so far, Cole. Perfectly clear fluid, just like I'd want to see," Robins said, letting out a large breath. Obviously, he was relieved there wasn't a potential bacterial outbreak on his hands.

After the procedure was over, Cole was moved to a private room out of the ER. She was resting comfortably in a hospital bed at nine in the morning. I had taken off my mask. We hadn't received the definite viral diagnosis, but it wasn't like that mattered to me. I wanted to kiss my daughters forehead, so I took it off. As I pretended to close my eyes for rest, I heard the door click open. Robins came in, no mask, with a smile.

"No bacteria. It's viral," he said, smiling. "If you want, you can take her home. I'm sure you can care for her there."

"Thank you," I sighed as he stopped the antibiotics.

"I'll start the discharge paperwork now. Linda will get the IV out, and you guys can go hopefully in the next half hour. I'm sure you know she'll need lots of rest and plenty of fluids. I'll write you a prescription for pain medicine and an antiemetic."

"Again, thank you. I seem to doubt my own skills when she's involved. It's good to have people I can trust to care for her," I said, holding my hand out for him to shake.

"My baby boy has colic. I like to run through every other diagnosis humanly possible every time he cries. We revert back to med-students and lose all knowledge when it's our own that's ill." He chuckled. "Still, it's good you brought her in. She was a touch dehydrated, and really, there was no way of knowing which type it was without the LP. I'm just glad she'll get better on her own," he said as my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and Esme's face flashed across the screen.

"If you'll excuse me, it's my wife," I said.

"Of course. Linda will be in shortly," he said, walking from the room as I answered the phone.

"She's going to be fine," I said, first and foremost.

"What happened? When did she get sick? What does she have? Are you sure she's fine?" Esme asked quickly.

"She has viral meningitis. It sounds much worse than it is. She's been tired since Friday, and it only got worse. After we played baseball, she had a mild fever. Then around four this morning, her head was severely hurting her. I brought her to the hospital to be safe, but we're leaving here shortly to go home. She needs lots of rest and plenty of TLC, but she will be fine," I said, once again caressing a sleeping Cole's face.

"I'm good at TLC. I'll be home by three. And why didn't you call Emmett and Rose?"

"Oh God, I hadn't even thought of that!" I said, wide-eyed.

"They'll be there early in the morning. They can't change the flight to any earlier, but Emmett's not happy he wasn't told."

"I'll call him."

"Probably not the best idea, considering it's you he's mad at. I'll let them know. There's nothing you're not telling me, right? When I get there Cole will be asleep in her bed?"

"Yes. We're leaving the hospital as soon as the discharge papers are done," I told her as I heard Cole groan softly. "She's waking up. I'll put the phone to her ear, but try to speak softly; she's sensitive to sounds with her headache," I said, putting the phone to Cole's ear.

"Honey," Esme said as Cole's eyes blinked open.

"Mommy," Cole said, turning her head into the phone.

"I'll be home soon, baby. I love you so much. Rest," Esme ordered.

"I will. Love you too, mommy," Cole said as I pulled the phone away.

"Call me if you'd like or I'll call you if anything happens, which it won't. She'll be fine."

"All right. I love you, Carlisle. Take care of our baby."

"You know I will. I love you more," I said, hanging up.

"Did I hear something about going home?" Cole asked, groggily as I laughed.

"Yes." I kissed her cheek. "You have viral meningitis. There's no real treatment but supportive care while your body fights it off, so we can go home. I can take care of you there."

"I know you can. And thank you for getting me out of here. I miss my bed!"

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	47. Chapter 47

**Edited 8/15/11**

**Translations:**

Mi sei mancata, mia bellissima dea. Come è stato il viaggio: I missed you, my beautiful goddess. How was your trip?

Mi sei mancato pure, tanto. Alaska era bella come al solito. Josh sembrava buona. Abbiamo parlato un po '. Ha ricevuto abbastanza la ramanzina da me per quello che ha fatto a Cole. Ignorando la sua era fuori luogo: I missed you as well, so much. Alaska was beautiful as usual. Josh seemed good. We talked a bit. He received quite the tongue lashing from me for what he did to Cole. Ignoring her was uncalled for.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

Crap… that was what I felt like. Seriously, just all around crappy. My head still ached, my neck was really stiff still, and my body just felt like… well, as I said before, crap. Carlisle had me propped up in my bed with pillows galore, behind me, on both sides, even on my lap. I was encased in a fluffy dungeon. And the blankets! Oh, don't get me started. I had my really warm comforter folded at my feet, my fleece and sheet covering me, and another large blanket folded perfectly beside me, just waiting to be stretched over me. Bless Carlisle, but seriously, this was over kill on the TLC.

He sat right beside me, book in hand, reading silently as I tried to close my eyes and get some sleep. My headache made that a little hard, and I'd only fall asleep for a few minutes — barely sleep really — before waking up again. My body ached, so any movement hurt. I couldn't get comfortable and now I seemed to be going from really cold to sweating, and then back again — making me shiver.

"Daddy," I whined as he put the book down on the end table and picked up something else — a thermometer.

"I'm sorry, _tesoro_. Let me get your temperature," he said, sliding the piece into my ear.

It quickly beeped, and he pulled it out.

"The acetaminophen isn't working as well as I'd wish. Your fever's back up, higher than before. I'll give you another dose, but I'd also like to try something else." He pressed the back of his chilly hand to my neck.

I closed my eyes. "What?"

"I'm going to change into a t-shirt, and then wrap you in my arms. My body temperature should bring yours down. It'll be equivalent to using a cold compress, but hopefully more helpful since it will cover most of your body." He smiled, standing up. "I'll be right back."

And he was. Not but ten seconds later, he was back in a thin navy blue t-shirt. He settled down next to me and gently pulled me so I was laying on him, and then wrapped his arms securely around me. I rested my head against the cool material of his chest. It really did feel good on my face.

"I'm sweaty," I groaned.

"It's the fever. You'll go from the chills to a sweat."

I fisted my hand in his shirt and he kissed the top of my head. "When's mommy gonna be home?"

"Soon. Maybe an hour."

"This sucks," I whimpered while burying my face into his chest.

"I know it does, baby, but at least your home now," he said, running his hand over my back, creating a nice soothing sensation. It was enough to lull me to sleep again.

"How has she been acting?" I heard someone say.

"She really doesn't feel well. She'll whimper softly and sometimes cry, but she's been better this past hour. I've got her fever down near 102.3, which is better than it was an hour ago, so that's good," another voice said — Carlisle.

I then quickly recognized the first voice. "Mommy," I said.

"Yes, honey, I'm here. It's okay," she said, kissing my cheek. "Oh, she is so warm!"

"The fever is her body's way of fighting the viral infection. As long as it's not too high, then it's not something to be concerned about," Carlisle said as I felt the movement on the bed.

Esme was now laying on my right against the sideboard and Carlisle was back to my left. I was in the middle of them on my side, facing Esme. I opened my eyes to find her loving smile.

"How are you feeling, darling? Are you terribly uncomfortable?" she asked with her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"S'not so bad," I lied.

I was actually really uncomfortable. Meningitis really hurt everything.

"I heard you were very brave, and I'm so proud of you for being such a trooper this morning." She smiled, caressing my cheek as I felt my tank top being lifted up in the back. Carlisle's cold hand gingerly removed the taped down gauze that covered the puncture mark from this morning's test. He quickly covered it back up, and lowered my tank top to my waist.

"You have some common bruising. It looks perfectly normal," he said, kissing my temple as I lifted my arm and placed it over Esme, and then snuggled close to her.

"I missed you, mom," I told her, closing my eyes.

"Nope, not yet, sweetie," Carlisle said. "You need to drink some water, and it's time for some medicine."

Esme helped me up. He produced a cup with a straw a few centimeters from my face. I took a sip, and then he started popping pills in my mouth, naming them as he went for Esme's benefit. I could care less as long as they made me feel better. I took another sip and scrunched my nose.

"Uhh," I groaned, closing my eyes as I tried to settle my stomach. It wasn't working very well. "I'm gonna throw u—"

And up it came into the basket Carlisle produced. Esme wiped my face softly as I finished and gave me another sip of water.

"You've been able to keep water down, but it seems anything else doesn't want to settle," Carlisle said as he returned with a clean basket in one hand and the other behind his back. "I'm sorry to have to do this." He revealed his hand. It was an IV kit and three small syringes that he placed on the end table.

"No," I whined.

"I'm just using it for access for the pain medication, acetaminophen, and antiemetic — no drip," he said as he sat down and gently took my hand. "If we can keep these medications in you, we can fight this faster. And in the end, it will be much less painful."

**Esme's POV**

My little girl buried her face into my shoulder, just as my husband began cleaning her little left hand. The pungent smell of alcohol filled the air and her nose crinkled. I ran the tip of my finger over the bridge of her nose to the tip, and got a ghost of a smile out of her before I stopped.

"No, that feels good," she said, taking my hand and putting it to her face.

I somewhat remembered doing this to a cat back when I was a little girl. I was petting her nose. I giggled as Carlisle looked up, and smirked with a roll of his eyes. The only thing missing was Cole purring. She made up for that with a sigh of content.

"All done, baby," Carlisle said. "I'm just giving you the medications now." He began connecting each small syringe one by one. He'd inject one, take it out, and do another until all three were empty.

I had always been thankful for what Carlisle could do, but never more so than when Cole was sick or hurt. He was just so gentle with her, so loving with each touch. I could see something in his eyes each time he had to use a needle on her. He didn't like doing it because he knew she didn't like it. But he did it because he'd rather them both be unhappy momentarily, than Cole suffer needlessly even for a second. After he was done, he kissed above the bandage and let Cole have her hand back as he cleaned up. Cole slid back onto her back slowly, lying down once more as she closed her eyes.

"Sleep well, my little sweetheart," I whispered.

I kissed her forehead as she snuggled close to me as I held her. She was asleep quickly — exhausted as her body fought the virus. Carlisle came back in and laid down on the other side of Cole, pulling us both close and wrapping his arms around my shoulders, sandwiching Cole between us.

"_Mi sei mancata, mia bellissima dea. Come è stato il viaggio?_" he asked softly.

"_Mi sei mancato pure, tanto. Alaska era bella come al solito. Josh sembrava buona. Abbiamo parlato un po '. Ha ricevuto abbastanza la ramanzina da me per quello che ha fatto a Cole. __Ignorando la sua era fuori luogo._"

"Yes, it was. What was his skewed reasoning?"

"To protect her. He wasn't sure if he could do this and he didn't want to hurt her more in the end by continuing a relationship. Stupid boy. Pardon me, but he had to have known ignoring her hurt worse. He's lucky he corrected his behavior by her birthday or else."

He laughed. "Mama Bear on the loose."

"Don't hurt my cub. We've been over this," I told him as his lips found mine.

"Mmm, I love you," I panted as we separated.

"I love you more." He smirked before pulling on my bottom lip with his teeth. Oh, the devil in this man! Our daughter was sick, right in between us! "We'll have to continue this once Rose and Emmett get home and can sit with Cole. I have so missed you," he said as I looked into his eyes. They had become coal black.

"You need to hunt."

"I was already planning on going before work tomorrow. I'll just go tonight sometime."

"You will go now," I ordered as he smiled.

"Then I guess I will go now. I'll be quick."

"You take your time. Cole will be fine. When does she need more medication?"

"I won't be that long, but I'll leave you with pre-filled syringes just in case. She'll need them again in about six hours. The acetaminophen possibly in four, but I'll label each syringe. Check her temperature every half hour to hour. If it goes about 103, you'll need to wrap her in your arms — you wearing a light shirt so your body cools her. Otherwise, put her in a lukewarm bath."

"I got it. Now, go, my love," I said as he kissed me once more before placing his lips to Cole's temple.

"I'll be back. Love you," he whispered in her ear before getting up.

"We'll see you soon." I smiled.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Cole slept for the first half hour. I took her temperature and it was around 102.3, so I didn't do anything besides hold her like I had been. She would sometimes whimper very softly when she moved even in the slightest. I took the time to really look at her. While her overall complexion was pale, her little cheeks would flush bright red. When that happened, I placed my hand on her cheek to cool her and they faded some. Around five in the evening, her eyes flew open and she looked around — tears filling them.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked

"Where… where's dad?"

"Oh, honey, he needed to hunt. He'll be back soon."

"Oh… Good. Eww," she sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Can I get a shower?"

"How about a bath?"

Carlisle said something about a bath, but I didn't think to ask if she could shower. I highly doubted she could do it on her own, anyway.

"M'kay," she said as I helped her sit up.

I carried her into the bathroom and sat her down on the little chaise. I was so happy I thought to add that.

"How do you want the water?" I asked.

"Hot. Really warm."

"Okay, but we have to be careful you don't get overheated," I told her as I started the water, adding generous amounts of bubble bath.

I ran back into her room and pulled some new clothes out for her — light layers that we could pull on or off easy. After getting her into the bath, she smiled softly. I held her up, afraid if I didn't she'd sink down into the water. After good twenty minutes, her face was bright pink. She was getting overheated, so I added a little cool water and washed out her hair for her before pulling her from the tub and wrapping her in a fluffy towel.

Getting her dressed was a little too easy. She still held a silly smile on her face and was like jelly when I slid the light shirt on. Before doing anything else, my hand went to her forehead.

_Oh, no, she was so much warmer. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. _

I carried her back into the bed and laid her down in between the piles of pillows — I kept the blankets off of her. I inserted the thermometer into her ear and it read close to, but not at, 103, so still acceptable. I laid down beside her and wrapped her in my arms to cool her just a little more.

"That… felt… good… thanks, momma," Cole mumbled.

"You're welcome. Get some sleep, my darling. Daddy will be home soon."

Over the next few days, Cole slowly recovered. Carlisle refused to leave her side again after hunting. Emmett and Rose arrived home early Monday morning. Emmett was not happy when he was told the two of them still had to go to school. He was even more not happy to learn two boys had cornered Cole on Friday after school. Luckily for those boys, Cole didn't want us to tell him who they were.

On Thursday, Cole's fever broke completely, but she still felt under the weather. As I cleaned her room and put on new bedding, Carlisle took her downstairs with a blanket and pillow. After I had finished, and the room was once again perfectly clean, I headed downstairs to the living room. On the couch, Carlisle sat with a pillow in his lap — Cole's head rested on top. He ran his right hand through her hair gently while he held a book with the other. Needless to say, I went straight to the kitchen for the camera. It was too cute to pass up.

Carlisle laughed as I flashed the camera. "She's going to start to think you like seeing her ill for adorable photo-ops."

"I have plenty of pictures of her laughing and smiling. That was just so adorable to refuse. It's more of you anyway. Look at your face." I handed him the camera as he sat his book down. "You look so serene. It's the first time in days I've seen you without your eyebrows furrowed."

"Her fever has broken, and in a few days she'll be well enough to go to school. I'm just thankful; that's all." He smiled as Emmett and Rose came in through the garage. Emmett was a bit too loud and Cole woke with a gasp. "Shhh now, _tesoro_. It's just Emmett."

"Of course it is… Tell him to shut up," Cole grumbled laying her head back down in Carlisle's lap. We both had a chuckle.

"Head still hurt?" Carlisle asked, sliding the pill bottle from his pocket.

"Yeah," she groaned.

"Then it's time for a little more Ibuprofen."

He had taken her off the strong pain medication, and he didn't want to overload her on acetaminophen, so he changed to Ibuprofen a few days ago for the fever and general aches and pains associated with this illness. I went to the kitchen to get Cole a new glass of ice water. She sipped it, and then took her pill. She hadn't thrown up since Tuesday. Thank goodness.

"I'm hungry," she sighed, sitting up and snuggling close to Carlisle.

"Really?" we both asked — a little shocked.

We've had to make Cole eat. She hadn't wanted anything, and now she's hungry. That was wonderful!

"I've barely eaten in almost a week," she said.

"We know. We're just happy you're ready to eat. Did you want soup like you've had, or something else?" Carlisle asked.

"Soup."

"Probably for the best," he agreed, kissing her head.

"What kind of soup, honey?" I asked.

"Vegetable, no… yes, well… yeah. I want vegetable," she conceded. "I'm just so hungry I want everything." She smiled sheepishly.

"That's just great, darling. We'll start off slow though to be safe," Carlisle said.

"I'll be back shortly," I told them both, kissing Cole's head and Carlisle's lips.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	48. Chapter 48 RATED M

**Edited 8/16/11**

**Warning! **The title for this chapter says rated M because it's an extremely difficult chapter. It's the reason the story is rated M now. All flashbacks are in italics, and if you'd rather not read what could be described as graphic sexual assault scenes, please skip them.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

I was now back at school. Emmett was even more protective than he had been what with those idiot sophomores running around. They hadn't even looked at me again. I think Carlisle almost made them pee themselves when we left that day. I could hear the rumble of a growl in his chest as we passed them leaving the office.

For once, I wished gym class ran longer. Because today, Esme and Carlisle were picking me up and I would be attending my first real therapy session with a woman in Seattle. Carlisle was true to his word when he told me he'd find the best. Dr. Emily Peck was a renowned psychiatrist who had even written a few books about PTSD in young rape victims. I heard him on the phone with her the other day discussing me. He gave me a look and shut the door when he found me ease dropping. Since she would never interact with us outside of Seattle. I was allowed to tell her the truth — that Carlisle and Esme just found me not even a year ago — instead of the lie that we tell everyone here. That I've been with them since I was little.

Carlisle did a little debriefing last night. Dr. Peck knew about Mark and the foster group boys, but she believed it happened in New York, and that the boys were disciplined for what they did. But with no proof, nothing actually happened to them. Mark was another story all together. I refused to be examined, so there was no criminal case against him. Most of the story was true. Carlisle and Esme found me in an alley close to death, but she thinks I went to a hospital. They quickly adopted me and though I did have a doctor in New York, I didn't talk to him because I didn't trust him. He was who prescribed me the anti-anxiety and Beta Blocker. That lie would ensure Carlisle wouldn't get in trouble. Besides, technically the doctor in New York did exist. His name was Jasper Whitlock. All the charts and prescriptions were forged, but she didn't need to know that. Or the fact that Jasper was like my brother and I did trust him completely.

As Emmett and I walked out of the school, we were met by Rose. They walked me outside to where Carlisle and Esme were parked and waiting. Carlisle wore black slacks and a red oxford with no tie — professional and yet still casual. Esme wore a light blue dress with a black belt. They stood hand in hand beside the Mercedes. I looked down at myself. I wore a pair of light destroyed jeans and a dark green hoodie. I might have been underdressed.

"Do I need to change?" I asked, hugging them both.

"No, darling. You look fine," Carlisle said, opening the car door as I paused.

A hand touched my shoulder and I turned around to Emmett.

"Let her help you, baby sister. Tell her what really happened with Mark, not what you told us," he said as my eyes went wide.

"I told you the truth."

"Not all of it, and don't get me wrong, I probably couldn't have handled it without killing that piece of human shit, but you can tell her the truth. Try not to reveal we're vamps, though. That could get you committed." He laughed, pulling me into an Emmett-bear hug.

"Love you, Emmy."

"I love you, Coley," he said, putting me down.

"We'll see you tonight." Rose smiled after a quick hug.

I finally got in the back seat and Carlisle shut the door.

"How are you doing, _tesoro_?" Carlisle asked, looking into the rearview mirror as he sped down the 101.

"Fine," I lied. I was a nervous wreck to be honest. Esme reached back and patted my knee. "Actually, I'm nervous."

"It's okay to be nervous, sweetie. Dr. Peck won't force you to talk about anything you're not comfortable with," she said.

"What if I mess up and say something wrong?"

Carlisle smiled in the review mirror and said, "You tell her the truth. You can't mess that up."

"The truth? Seriously?"

"Everything that you went through, you can talk about," Esme said. "The only details that changed are the location. This is about what you went through before us. Therefore, as long as you don't say your parents are vampires, you'll be fine." She smiled.

"Are you guys… going to be with me?"

"In the beginning and at the end we'll come in, but you have to talk to her without us. This is about you," Carlisle said.

"What if I need you?"

"Tell her and she'll come get us. This will be a process. Rome wasn't built in a day and this can't all be discussed in a day. Today, she'll want a little background, but I highly doubt you'll really start to discuss anything during this session."

"How long will this take?"

"You're scheduled for a ninety minute session since this is the first. The others should only be sixty."

"How often do I have to go?"

"Whatever she recommends. Probably once a week, maybe twice in the beginning."

The ride took a good hour and a half. I did some of my homework and read my book as we drove. In my bag, I had another book. A book I asked Rose to get me. It was Dr. Peck's. I hadn't really started reading it yet. I just read the biography about her. She's thirty-nine, originally from England, and the book is a true story — her story. She was a survivor. She was a junior in high school when it happened to her. I hadn't read about her attack, so I didn't really know what happened, but the fact that she knew what it was like made me feel a little better. Maybe I would be able to actually talk to her — tell her everything, not just the basics, because she won't look down on me — she would understand.

Don't get me wrong. I knew for a fact no one in my family looked down on me, but the only ones who could really understand were Esme and Rose, and I really can't talk to them because they are my family. They would tell me what I wanted to hear, not what I needed to hear. They would tell me it wasn't my fault. That I couldn't stop what happened when, in my heart, I knew that wasn't true. But to be fair, they didn't know that wasn't true. They knew what I had told them. Not how I never left when I had plenty of chances. Not that I had the opportunity to stop it, but didn't because I was afraid to leave — that when I left, I'd truly have no one. Maybe Dr. Peck could help in ways my family couldn't.

"We have an appointment at four with Dr. Peck," Carlisle told the receptionist as I looked around the beautiful and spacious office.

"Name?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Nicole Cullen."

The woman smiled. "Emily will be out shortly to get you. I just need Nicole's insurance card."

Carlisle pulled out his wallet and gave her the card. She made a copy, had him sign something, and gave him a few papers back with the card. He came back over to the sofa Esme and I sat on, taking his seat next to Esme since I was at one end.

"Honey, you're shaking," Esme said holding my hand.

I looked up and smiled softly. "Nerves."

"It'll be fine," she told me, rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand.

Carlisle lifted his arm around Esme and placed it on the back of my head. "Just tell her the truth. Anything you don't want to talk about, you don't have too," he said.

"Cole!" a British accent cheered.

I looked up to find Dr. Peck. I recognized her from the picture on the back of her book. She had black hair in a bun, with a little piece curled over her left ear. She was tall and thin — very pretty with brown eyes. Esme pulled me up with her and Dr. Peck quickly grabbed my hand.

"It's so good to meet you!" she said with a smile.

"Hi," I whispered.

"You must be Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Marvelous to meet you," she said to Carlisle and Esme, dropping my hand to shake theirs.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Dr. Peck," Carlisle said.

"Please, call me Emily. Let's go back to my office," she said, motioning for us to follow.

We walked back to a big office. Surprisingly, it was nothing like I had pictured. It was warm and inviting, with a large sofa and a few chairs. The big desk was in the corner, but instead of sitting behind it, she sat in one of the arm chairs and told us to take a seat on the sofa. The room smelled really good — fruity, because of the candles she had burning.

"It's all right if I call you Cole, right? Your dad said that's what you go by," she said.

"Yeah, I like Cole."

I looked around the room some more. She had a lot of pictures. A few graduation ones with girls a little older than me, a few wedding pictures, and even a few with her holding babies.

"They're all my former and some current patients. Wonderful young woman," she told me.

"Oh, they're nice."

"Aren't they? I love each one. So, I know a little bit about you from what your dad told me, but I'd like to hear a little from you. You're a freshman, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"How do you like high school?"

"It's high school." I giggled.

"True, but do you like school? Learning?"

"Yeah, it's… interesting."

"Certainly." She chuckled. "What's your favorite subject?"

"I like biology and English

"Biology! What an amazing thing, yes? So complicated, but astounding."

"Cole might want to become a doctor," Esme said.

"Really? That's fantastic! I bet dad likes that idea." She laughed.

"I'd be proud no matter what, but it is nice to have someone interested in my little stories." Carlisle chuckled.

"He talked me through an appendectomy when I was home sick and bored a few days ago. I kinda want to see one now." I smiled.

"I bet that was interesting. How cool to get to hear exactly what happens from a surgeon's perspective. It must be nice to have someone to talk to like that. Someone that knows what you're interested in. Do you know if you want to be a surgeon as well?"

"Yeah." I blushed. "I wanna be a trauma surgeon like my dad."

"Just a great goal. I'm sure if that's what you want, you'll achieve it," she said. "Now, let's talk a little bit about why you're here. I know you've been through some horrid things, and I'm very glad you're accepting help. I really hope you'll be able to trust me, because I think we'll make a good pair if you do." She pulled a notebook off of her table and lowered her glassed from the top of her head to her nose as she read the paper. "Tell me what your life was like before being adopted."

"My um… I was in foster care," I said, swallowing hard.

"And your birthparents?"

"I don't know."

"How old where you when you went into the foster system?"

"Six."

"Hmm. Do you not wish to discuss them now?"

"Not really."

"That's all right. Let's move on. How old where you when you ran away from foster care?"

"Thirteen."

"Quite young to be on your own. I imagine you were very frightened to have left at that age."

"I didn't… want to be there… I couldn't. So, I ran."

"You left because of what happened at one of the homes?" I nodded yes. "What happened after you left?"

"A man… took me in… he said he'd take care of me; that I could trust him."

"And this man was Mark?"

"_Mmm, so good, my tiny whore," he grunts as he slams back into me. The bed shakes._

"Y… yeah," I said, suddenly hit with that horrible memory of one of the many times Mark was… raping me.

"How long until the first time he touched you inappropriately?"

"_You're so soft. You know that?" he asks, running his hand up my arm. I shudder. This isn't right. He… smells like alcohol._

"_Please, don't," I ask as his hand latches onto my arm tight. So tight that it is painful. "Ow," I gasp. "Let go."_

"_Don't tell me what to do. I'm giving you a roof over your head and food to eat. The least you can do is let me touch you," he says, running his hand up my arm again. He moves my tank top strap, and then my bra strap, bending his head down, kissing my skin._

"_Stop," I say as he suddenly let go. _

_I sigh in relief for a second until his hand comes down, hard, on my cheek. It stings so badly that it brings tears to my eyes._

"_Shut up."_

"Cole, are you all right?" Dr. Peck asked.

"What?"

"I asked how long you were with Mark…"

"_Please, Mark. Don't," I beg as he forces me down on the bed. _

_He grabs my jaw._ "_Shut the fuck up," he yells._

"… Before he touched you inappropriately for the first time?" Dr. Peck asked.

"A few days."

"Was that the first time he sexually assaulted you?"

"_Oh, you're so fucking tight. How does that feel? How do my fingers feel inside you?" he asks with his hands down my panties. "How does it feel to have me finger fucking you!" he yells as I cry._

"_S…s…s…stop!" I sob, trying to get away_

"Stop," I yelled.

"Cole?" Carlisle asked.

"Please, go. I don't want you here," I said, a little too harshly.

"Let Cole and I have a little time. We'll talk to you soon," Dr. Peck said.

"Cole, do you really want us to go?" Carlisle asked.

"You want me to tell her the truth. I can't do that with you here. Please, just go," I asked, not looking up.

"We'll be in the waiting room then, _tesoro_." He stood up with Esme. He bent down to kiss my forehead, but I turned my head and he just touched my cheek. "We love you," he said before they left.

"Why don't you want your parents here?" Dr. Peck asked.

"I can't… not with them here. I don't want them to know."

"They already know, darling."

"No… they don't."

"_Stop touching me!" I scream._

"_You want me to stop!" he yells. "I give you everything!" he screams, smacking my face. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be homeless and on the streets, starving." He smirks. "I can do that to you. You can go, but you'll just wind up being someone else's tiny whore." He laughs._

"He told me I could go. I didn't."

"He held you there with fear. The door may have been opened, but you were chained there by something else."

"I didn't want to be a whore. Just him that was one person. He said I'd wind up working on the streets as a whore for a lot of men."

"That's what he held you with. You had nothing and no one. He knew that. You were thirteen — a child. You still are, and he knew if he could scare you into thinking you'd be worse without him, he could keep you. He might have said you could leave, but he wouldn't have let you."

"I let him rape me."

"Did you ever ask him to stop?"

"_Please stop. It hurts!" I cry as he thrust into me._

I nodded my head. "Yes."

"And he continued?" she asked. I nodded again. "You didn't consent. You didn't say, here I'll let you do what you want to me if you let me stay here."

"I didn't have to."

"You're a child. Even if you gave him consent — which you didn't — he was still much, much older. Yes?"

"Yeah."

"It was still rape even if you had consented."

"I could have left and I didn't. I had the chance."

"You eventually did leave, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"_S…s…s…st…op," I whimper. _

_He lifts his head to look in my eyes._ "_I thought you learned!" he roars, letting go of my leg that he held up as he thrust into me to hit me in the face. "You don't speak!" he yells, striking my stomach._

"_Please," I beg as he pulls out of me. _

_I sigh in relief that he no longer resides in my body, but my relief soon vanishes as his hands make their way to my neck._

"_I. Said. Don't. Speak. Whore!" he yells, pronouncing each word slowly as his hands grips my neck tighter and tighter until I can't even gasp for a tiny fraction of the air I need. _

_This is it. He is going to kill me. The pain will stop, but so will any chance of me having a good life. I will never be happy. I've never been happy and here I am, about to die. _

_"Your good for a hard fuck!" he spits at me as the blood pulses in my head. I hear each beat of my heart. "Nothing else! You don't get to talk to me unless I say you can!" he roars. My vision is starting to blur with spots._

"_Help," I mouth. _

_No voice can escape my lips since my throat is completely compressed. He laughs, his spit flying over my face._

"_No one's gonna help you. You're a whore, nothing more. No one will ever care about you. I'm all you have!" he sneers. Just as everything is close to being dark. He lets go. "And I don't even want you." He laughs as I sucked in the air he deprived me of for almost too long. He throws a pair of short shorts and a t-shirt at me as he picks up his pants._

"_I hate you," I whisper._

"_What did you say?" he asks._

_He doesn't heard me, so I lie._ "_Sorry."_

"_Good. Clean this mess up. I might bring some friends over for you to play with tonight, and this place better be spotless. Or next time… I won't let go," he threatens as panic fills my body._

_He's never brought anyone over before. He talks about it, but never once has he said he would. What would they do to me? Would they be rougher than he is? Oh God, no! I can't handle that. I already live in constant pain. I can't handle anymore! _

_"Oh, and Cole," he says, stepping closer to the bed. He raises his hand and slaps me across the face really hard. It doesn't hurt, though. That pain is nothing compared to the pain I feel each and every time he forces himself into me. "Be a good whore." He laughs, stepping out of the room._

_I hear the door to the apartment slam as I pull on the shorts and shirt. I know in my heart I can't stay here. He almost killed me. He will kill me, and even if he doesn't next time, there's always the time after that and the time after that. He will be the death of me and more than likely, my body will just be tossed in the woods for the animals to devour. No one will miss me or come looking for me. No one will think I was killed considering I'm just another orphan runaway. No one cares. _

_What I wouldn't give for just one person to care if I wasn't on this earth. For one person to love me and never hurt me. I just want one person! Is that too damn much to ask for? I just want to be loved!_

_I just need a head start. I can get away and maybe find an abandoned house or something. Clothes wise, this shirt and shorts were all I have. I refuse to wear anything of his. It's December, freezing outside, so I have to steal something ,or maybe someone would feel bad and give me a coat? No, no one can see me. They'll send me back to the group homes. I'll have to hid in an alley until later tonight. I can keep warm until them. Right?_

_I quietly open the apartment door and peer around the corner to be safe. No one is out, so I run completely bare foot through the building and outside. I keep running. People look at me, but I try not to pay attention. I just have to get far enough away Mark won't find me easy. _

_About a mile and a half from the apartment, I come to a dark alley. There is a dumpster in it, so I hid behind it, hoping no one will see me. As I sit, I realize exactly how cold it is outside. And the fact that I feel oddly faint. My heart was racing, probably from running as I begin to shiver. Eventually the shivering stops. I'm still cold, but I'm so tired and I guess I just don't have the strength anymore. At least if I die it isn't at Mark's hands._

"He was going to kill me," I whispered.

"He beat you. Didn't he?" she asked.

"Yes," I cried

"Eventually it'd get out of hand and, though he might not have been trying, he would have killed you. When your parents found you, you needed desperate medical attention. Yes?"

"I was in shock and hypothermic from being out in the cold."

"You would have died if no one found you."

"That's what dad says."

"I hate to stop, but unfortunately we've been in here for two hours."

"What?" I asked. It only felt like a few minutes.

"You were in a daze for quite some time. I'm assuming you were having a flashback. Am I right?"

"Yes," I cried.

"It's understandable, but you weren't there. You know that."

"I know I… knew I wasn't there. I could hear everything and feel it again. I didn't realize I was like that for so long."

"I'm going to go get your parents. We need to discuss something's, and then you can go home," she said, standing up.

When the door closed, I lost it. I started sobbing and gasping. Relieving that was… horrible. So, so horrible.

"Oh, Cole," Carlisle said, kneeling in front of me.

Esme sat down beside me and I threw myself into her arms. "Shhh, honey. It's okay. It's all right, baby girl," she cooed in my ear as she rocked softly back and forth.

Carlisle sat down beside me, placing his hand on my back.

"I'd like to see her again on Friday, if possible. Twice a week. Tuesday and Friday for a while," Dr. Peck said.

"Of course. I agree," Carlisle said.

"I'd also like to prescribe something — an antidepressant."

"I'm not…" gasp, "depressed!" I yelled.

"I know," she said. "It's more for your PTSD — to get you stabilized. You might find it helps. It's just temporary, If it does nothing, we can take you off of it," she said, going to her desk to pull out a prescription pad out. "I'll also write for your Ativan."

"She only takes that if she wakes up from a nightmare or has a panic attack. She doesn't take it very often nowadays," Carlisle said. "We have plenty."

"Okay. I'll put in her chart that I didn't write a new prescription, but if she needs more, let me know. What about the Beta Blocker?"

"She has plenty. She took one Monday for the first time in weeks."

"May I ask why?"

"She had a hard day. The last day she was there, she was just overly nervous."

"All right. Well, I am very glad to hear she doesn't take anything often, and I'd like to keep it that way save for the antidepressant — which is really just to try. It's helped many PTSD suffers, and I think it might help her."

"Can we go?" I cried into Esme's shoulder.

"Yes. Cole, I'd like to see you again on Friday. Is that all right?" I nodded. "Good. Until then, take care. Your dad has my cell phone number if you need to get ahold of me at any time. I really enjoyed meeting you, and hopefully we can work together and help you," she said as we stood up.

Esme kept her arm around me as I held her tight, not even thinking of letting her go. As we got to the car, Carlisle opened the back door for me and Esme tried letting go. I didn't let her.

"Do you want me to sit with you?" she asked.

"Yes," I cried.

"All right, slid in and then I will."

I did and she got in. I instantly went back to her. I needed my mommy right now. As we began driving, my phone buzzed with a text. It was Emmett and he told me to turn on my iPod and go to recently added. I did, and found a new song I had never heard. I put my headphones in my ears and turned it on.

"It's not how many times you've been knocked down. It's how many times you get back up," Esme whispered as the song ended. "You always get back up, and you always will." She smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **The song at the end of the chapter was "Courage Is" by The Strange Familiar. It's a great song. You should listen. Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	49. Chapter 49

**Edited 8/16/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

**Carlisle's POV**

Cole fell asleep in Esme's arms in the backseat as we drove home from Seattle. She cried herself to sleep, keeping her IPod on repeat to the song Emmett loaded for her.

"Is this really going to help her?" Esme asked quietly.

"She has to be able to share. I think Dr. Peck will be able to help her where we can't. It's not going to happen right away. We'll have many more nightmares, times when she just needs to be held, and times when she doesn't want us around at all."

"I want to kill him."

"Me too," I agreed as I pulled onto our long driveway.

When I parked in the garage, Cole was still sound asleep — her IPod still going. Esme let me get Cole. As I picked her up out of the car and pulled the headphones from her ears, her eyes opened.

"We're home, baby. You did great today," I told her as she snuggled her little head into my chest. Her warmth radiated to my heart.

"Homework," she mumbled as we walked into the foyer and up the first flight of stairs.

"Are you still tired?"

"Nuh-uh. Can we go to your study? I only have math left."

"Sure, _tesoro,_" I said, carrying her up to my study.

I placed her on the sofa and pulled the small coffee table over. Esme came in with her book bag and a tray of food.

"I hope you're hungry. Emmett made you some sesame chicken with teriyaki rice." She smiled, placing the tray on the table.

"Mmm. Yes, me very hungry. But did he actually cook this?" Cole smirked.

"There were take-out bags in the trash. Shhh, I think he wants you to believe he can cook." She giggled in a whisper.

"Thank you, Emmett. It looks great. You did a wonderful job!" Cole yelled with a smirk as she quickly dug in. "Mmm so good!" she moaned, licking her lips of the sauce.

"I'll be back, _tesoro,_" I said.

"We'll be right back," Esme corrected as we went hand in hand up the stairs to our room.

I changed into a cotton t-shirt and pajama pants. Since Cole, Esme and I had grown accustom to wearing clothing that fits the time of day. At night, we always changed into something humans would consider comfortable like Cole does. Speaking of which, I heard the quiet pitter patter of little feet going to her bedroom, doing the same as us. As Esme unzipped her dress, I stopped her.

"We can do this," I said, kissing her shoulder.

"She can do this." She smiled.

"That she can, but I was talking about _this_. Let me help." I grinned, sliding my hands under the dress, her soft skin welcoming my touch.

"Not that I'm against it, but we should probably put this on hold until after Cole goes to sleep." She giggled as I let the dress fall to her ankles.

She reached for her t-shirt and I took it from her, sliding it over her head. I then moved on to her bottoms, letting my hands linger a little longer than necessary as I slid them up her long legs.

"You're so bad!" She chuckled, turning around in my arms slapping my chest.

"That I am." I captured her lips.

"Carlisle!" she said as I moved to her neck.

"Okay… I'm done, for now." I smirked as I heard Cole walking back to my study, and then an "oomph".

"Oh, dear," Esme said, rushing from the room as I followed down the stairs into my study. Cole sat on the couch, now in her pajamas, nursing her big toe.

"It's your door frames fault," she said as I took a quick peek. It was fine, just a stubbed toe.

"I know. That door frame is cruel," I said, kissing her forehead.

"It hates me" she giggled putting her foot down before picking the plate up off the tray and scooting back on the sofa.

"The door frame trying to kill Cole again?" Emmett laughed as he and Rose came in, pulling one of my wing-back chairs over and sitting down. Rose in Emmett's lap.

"We should make this a homework party. Have you guys done yours?" Cole asked.

"Nah, we had better things to do." Emmett wiggled his eye brows and Cole pretended to gag.

"I'll be back," Rose said, standing from Emmett's lap. She was gone and back quickly with each of their homework piles.

"Where'd you get this? Soho Chinese Bistro?" Cole asked, holding up her plate.

"I made it myself!" Emmett exclaimed. "Yeah, Soho helped a bit," he grumbled.

"You did good though, big brother. You got help when you needed it. God knows if you tried to do this yourself, the kitchen would be on fire." She giggled, stuffing another piece in her mouth.

"Hey, Carlisle. You wanna do my advanced bio homework?" Emmett asked, holding up the book.

"Do your own homework, Emmett," Esme said. "Don't try to entice Carlisle in with biology. It'll take you a minute, if that." She giggled.

"How was the therapist? Did you like her?" Rose asked Cole.

She stopped eating and smiled sadly. "She seems nice."

"When do you go back?"

"Friday," she said, picking up her Algebra book.

"Did you have a good session?"

"Not now, Rosie. I don't think she wants to talk about it," Emmett whispered in Rose's ear.

"It was therapy, Rose. There was nothing good about it. Oh, and she thinks I'm crazy, so she put me on antidepressants. It was an all-around great time," Cole sneered, closing her book and standing up. "I'm going to my room," she said before walking out.

"I should go," I said as Esme stopped me.

"You said sometimes she'll want to be alone. Maybe this is the time. If she needs us, she'll call for us," she said.

"I didn't mean to upset her," Rose said.

"She had a very hard session. She had a few flashbacks, and she didn't even want us in there with her. You didn't do anything wrong, but I don't think we should bring up therapy. If she wants to talk about it, she will," I said as I heard the shower in Cole's room turn on, swiftly followed by her crying softly.

Esme looked heartbroken as she cleaned up Cole's dinner. Cole's cries still echoed through our sensitive ears. Each little gasp hurt me, and I knew it hurt Esme just as much. We wanted nothing more than to pull Cole into our arms and hold her tight.

"Did she say anything we didn't know?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah," I said solemnly.

"What?"

"She could have left. Or at least, she thinks she could have. God knows he wouldn't have let her go that easily, but she has it in her head that she let him rape her. That she could have stopped it."

"She's a tiny little thing. What could she have done? Kicked his ass? She would have just been hurt worse."

"I can give someone a new heart, perform neuro-surgery, and bring people back from the brink of death… So why can't I help her?" I murmured. "Of all these skills I have, they do nothing to help her. Nothing."

"You can't get down on yourself for something that's out of your control," he told me. "No one can just… fix everything. It's all gotta be her, and it's gonna be hard. She doesn't need you to go to extreme lengths to fix her when you can't. She just needs you to be there — to love her."

I looked at the clock on my wall. Cole had been in the shower, crying, for an hour.

"She's been in there too long," I said, standing up.

I met Esme in the hall and we walked into Cole's room and to her bathroom door. I lifted my hand and knocked.

"Cole, are you okay?" I asked. No response, except her cries.

"Honey, come out," Esme said.

Again, she didn't say anything. She just kept crying, louder and louder. Her gasps picked up and were quickly making her hyperventilate.

"Esme, you have to go get her."

She nodded her head and knocked once more. "Baby, I'm coming in," she said, getting a long hoarse cry from Cole's throat.

Esme turned the door knob, popped the lock like I've had to do before, and went in. Steam bellowed from the room before she closed the door again.

"Oh, baby!" Esme gasped ,putting me on edge. "Carlisle."

I quickly bust through the door. Esme had Cole pulled from the shower, wrapped in a large towel. Her skin was bright red, with what looked like scratches from her own finger nails on her arms. Her skin was raw and angry from scrubbing. She scrubbed herself raw to get clean.

"_Tesoro_," I whispered, looking over the raw patches — little blood spots marred her beautiful skin.

She had taken off the first few layers of skin in some places. The amount of blood was so small that when it mixed with the water it had diluted the scent, so that we couldn't pick it up until we were close.

"What did she do?" Esme whispered.

"Bring her into her room. Help dress her in something light that exposes as much skin as possible. I'll be right back," I said, standing up from my crouched position in front of Esme, who had Cole in her arms.

I walked back to my study, going to my medical cabinet, and grabbed some dressings and antiseptic to clean her soon to be sores. Obviously, the flashbacks today left her feeling unclean — as if he had touched her again. I had seen it in the ER before. Woman who put off treatment right away would sometimes shower and literally scrub themselves raw, trying to clean themselves of their attacker. The flashbacks put that feeling right back in Cole's mind, taking her back to being raped. She felt she needed to get "clean", and scrubbing herself raw seemed like the only way. I waited until I heard Esme dressing Cole before beginning my way back to her room.

Emmett and Rose stopped me in the hallway. "Now that the water's not running, we can smell her blood. We're going to go hunt to be safe," Rose said. Their eyes a little darker than an hour ago.

"That's best. I'll be done quickly."

"We'll be back before morning," Emmett said with a nod.

They walked past me as I continued to Cole's room. Esme sat behind her with her arms around Cole's chest, holding her close. She was murmuring for Cole to breathe with her, which Cole was doing with a quivering jaw. I went back to my study to grab an Ativan. If she wanted it, she could have it. I thought she might need it, in fact.

"Baby girl, here, take this," I said, holding the small pill in my hand.

She reached with a trembling hand, taking the pill and putting it in her mouth as Esme handed her a glass of juice she had brought up while Cole was showering. Cole tried to grasp it, but it began to slip, so Esme held it for her, letting her take some sips.

"Dirty… whore," Cole whimpered under her breath.

"No, never," Esme said, holding Cole tighter.

"Don't ever say that, Cole. You are not dirty and you are certainly not a… _whore,_" I said — the word left a vile taste in my mouth. "I need to clean and dress your arms. Did you scrub anywhere else?"

"Her stomach has some scratches," Esme said. "It's not raw like her arms, though."

"All right, baby girl, I'm going to take a look. Okay?"

She nodded lightly with her eyes closed. I lifted the loose shirt and looked at her stomach. The scratches didn't draw blood, but I went ahead and ran a cotton ball of antibiotic ointment over them to be safe before moving to her arms. A few of the raw patches seeped blood and I, as gently as possible, cleaned them. Cole jerked away.

"I know, sweetie. Almost done," I told her as I finished and wrapped her left forearm in a white bandage and taped it up before moving to the next.

"What happened in the shower, honey?" Esme asked a now calm Cole.

"I couldn't stop thinking… about him. I was so… dirty. I had to get clean. He kept calling me his dirty whore," she said as tears ran down her cheeks. Esme promptly wiped them away.

"You could hear him?" I asked

"I am crazy."

"No, darling. We're opening some very bad wounds. It's not uncommon to remember with such vividness," I said, finishing with her other arm.

"I'd rather go back to not talking about it."

"That's not healthy."

"This," she waved her arm, "isn't healthy."

"It won't happen again. We won't let it. We thought maybe you needed some time, but for now, the door stays cracked when you shower. And if we hear you cry, mom's coming in."

"I wanna get better," she whispered.

"And you will," I promised.

That night was hard — so hard. After the next two sessions, Cole was a little better. Of course, she cried, but it seemed the first session was much harder. Before and after the sessions, she listened to that song. It seemed to help. I don't know where Emmett found that song, but I was so glad he did.

It was now a few days before Thanksgiving and we had a major surprise for Cole. I only hoped it wasn't too soon.

Josh had been doing very well since his slip. He hunted every day and even went as far as beginning to get close to a town with Jasper. He wanted this. He wanted to see Cole with his own eyes in person. I wouldn't have even considered this if it weren't for Jasper. He told me of Josh's emotion when they'd get close to a town. He would be scared any time human blood filled his lungs — not thirsty. Of course, there was thirst; it was inevitable, but he was in control. I didn't know how close he could get to Cole. He could only be around her outdoors — never in an enclosed space for now. Emmett and Jasper would have to be near him at all times with me in between him and Cole. If he made a move, Emmett and Jasper could stop him and I'd get Cole out of there.

As much as Josh needed this, Cole needed it more — especially now. She had done so well in therapy. She deserved this. All the hard work she had put in had strung her out. She was a little more on edge now, a little more organized, if you will. Dr. Peck said it was her way of being in control of something. A perfectly normal response.

**A/N:** Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	50. Chapter 50

**Edited 8/16/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

"Nine days! Nine!" I cheered as I climbed in the back of the jeep.

Today was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. We get the whole week off and including the weekend it was nine days! No school, no homework, no annoying people. The best thing… Carlisle was taking me to work with him on Monday. He talked to his boss and he said it was fine as long as I didn't interrupt his work. I'd stay as quiet as a mouse. Besides, it gave me something to look forward to and take my mind off everything. After Monday, Carlisle was taking the rest of the week off. He would only have to go in if something major happened, like it did on my birthday.

"Nine days without annoying hormonal humans!" Rose laughed.

"Hey," I said

"I said annoying and hormonal. You are neither. Well, you're not annoying." She smirked.

As soon as we got home, I put my bag away and went back downstairs to the garage where Carlisle and Esme were waiting. Today was my forth session with Emily. Every time I saw her, I wound up crying and reliving something I didn't want to. So, I wanted to hate her, but she was so nice it was hard to. She let me take my time, never pushes me, and sometimes, when it got really hard, she'd sit next to me and hold my hand.

"How was your day?" Carlisle asked with a knowing smirk from the driver's seat.

"Fantastic. I had no homework and we basically did nothing. In a few classes, we watched movies. And in gym, we didn't have to jog like normal, which of course made my day." I giggled. "How about you?"

"Wonderfully boring." He chuckled "Linda says hello. She can't wait to see you on Monday," he said as we arrived near the ferry port in Kingston.

"Yeah, I can't wait either. It's gonna be so cool to watch you work."

"I'm afraid you may be disappointed. I'm really not all that interesting to watch, and the ER doesn't get very many exciting cases. Sutures and broken bones will be prominent."

"So? It's great to watch you work. I don't expect to see you running down the hall, beating someone's chest in yelling clear or stat. Though, that would be awesome once you got them back." I smirked.

"My dear, in the past year that has only happened a handful of times and I've never _beat _someone's chest. Television has truly glorified my job." He laughed.

"You're still amazing."

"He certainly is," Esme agreed, taking his hand.

After we all discussed the last few days since Tuesday — a panic attack Wednesday night — Carlisle and Esme left for the waiting room to give me a little privacy. Okay, that was a lie. With them, there was no privacy. They could hear everything, but I knew they tried not to listen. Sometimes, though, they couldn't help it.

"So, are you off for Thanksgiving yet?" Emily asked. "I know some school districts let out for a week and others for a few days."

"Today was my last day. I have nine blissful days of no homework and no school." I smiled.

"What are your plans for Thanksgiving?"

"I don't really know. I guess what everyone does. Turkey, lots of food, I think we'll play baseball. My family loves to play."

"Sounds fun. Any relatives coming in?" she asked.

"No. Rose's brother lives in Alaska with his wife, and dad's cousin, Josh, lives far away too. They aren't coming."

"I'm sorry, but at least you have your parents and siblings."

"Yeah, it'll still be fun."

I wished Josh, Jasper, and Alice would come. I really missed all of them, and now that Josh and I were talking again, I wanted to see the progress he had made — his burnt orange eyes that showed he was working so hard to be a good person.

"So, today I'd like to discuss what happened in your group foster home. We've barely touched on that and, to be honest, it's the root of all that you've been through," she said as I settled into the couch a little more. "First off, how old were you when that happened?"

"Thirteen. It was Memorial Day."

"How did it start?"

"_Come hang out with us. Seriously, you don't want to be with these little kids, do you?" Ian asks._

"The home had a Memorial Day thing. I was with some of the younger kids because they were scared of the fireworks. I felt bad for a little girl that kept calling for her mom."

"Did it happen around that little girl?"

"No… I went with them. They told me I should hang out with them and not the little kids," I said. "I should have stayed with her."

"What did they say they were going to do?"

"Light bottle rockets."

"And then what happened? Did they light the bottle rockets?"

"No."

"_Where are we going? Don't we have to do this outside?" I ask._

"_We want to do something else first. Come on," Brett says, pulling my hand. _

_I have a bad feeling, but kept going to the old barn._

"We went to a barn," I told her.

"Good. Keep going, sweetheart."

"There was a mattress. A really nasty one that Brett pushed me down on—"

"_You're pretty, you know that?" Brett asks._

"_I think we should get back. Mrs. Willis will be looking for us," I say._

"_No, she won't. She has to get the kids to bed." He smiles._

"_So… um, what are we doing in here? Are we even allowed here? This is probably someone's property."_

"_No one will care. It's hot. You should take your shirt off," Ian says, sitting down as Mitchell pulls something from his pocket — a cigarette pack._

"_Here, have one. It's relaxing," he says._

"_I can't smoke. None of us can."_

"_No one will care. We're foster kids. Do you really think anyone gives a shit?" He laughs, handing me a lit one._

"They gave me a cigarette. It was horrible," I said.

"Okay."

"Ian told me to take my shirt off. I didn't want to."

"Did you?".

"They did it. They said we were going to play," I cried. "I can't... Let's talk about something else, anything else."

"Okay, we can stop." She smiled. "Let's go back to talking about your family. Is that all right?"

I sniffled. "Yeah."

"When you first met Carlisle and Esme, what did you think?"

"Before I actually looked at them I was scared, but when I did, they looked like angels. I thought I was dead."

"What did they do?"

"Um, Carlisle told me their names. He gave me his hospital ID, so I knew they weren't lying."

"And then?"

"He asked if they could put their coats on me. After looking at his ID some more, I let them. I was so cold." I shuddered.

"Did you trust them?"

"Unbelievably, yeah. They both ooze goodness. They couldn't have been bad." I smiled.

"Did you ever doubt they weren't good?"

"Once, I didn't doubt they weren't good people, but I had been hurt so many times, I doubted that I _should_ trust them."

"When was that? That night?"

"No, it was when I was sick with pneumonia. A few days after I was brought into their home. It was just me and dad. He accidently said something about being a good actor, and I thought… Well, if he's a good actor, then he might be acting about caring about me."

"And then? What did he say to convince you otherwise?"

"He held me. He said he'd be anything for me, and that they would never lie, hurt, or use me."

"Are you ever anxious when alone with Carlisle?"

"What? No, never," I yelled.

"I'm just asking. I'm not accusing. It's just that sometimes, girls who have been hurt like you have, aren't comfortable around men. I'm glad you are comfortable with Carlisle. He is a good man, but I'm just curious as to why it was so easy to be around him — alone with him."

"You think it's easy?" I asked. "It's not! Not even close. In the beginning, the first few days, I was afraid of him!" I cried. "Is that what you wanted to hear? That I was actually afraid of him?"

"Why were you afraid of him?"

"I was scared he'd be like Mark, or worse, my real dad. I was afraid he'd leave me. He'd make all these promises, and then poof, he'd be gone, leaving me hurt and broken."

"But he didn't leave."

"No, and that's why he's so important to me. That's why I trust him so much. I trust him with my life, because he showed me that there are some people you can trust. He proved himself to me by being there when I cried, by loving me even though I'm not really his," I said, quickly covering my mouth. "I mean, I am his."

"Let's back up. You just said you're not really his. Biologically, you're not, but does that matter to you?"

"No," I said. "I may not be their biological daughter, but in the end that doesn't matter. They love me more than my biological parents ever did. I just… wish I was biologically theirs. If I had been, my life would have been so much better. I wouldn't be sitting here today," I said. "I'm such a liar. I've told them both I wouldn't change that because it made me who I am, but honestly, if I had the chance, I would change that."

"Of course, you would. And that's perfectly fine," she said, looking at her watch. "Well. we're out of time for today, but even if you don't know it, you made progress today."

"How on earth did I make progress? I refused to talk about the foster boys, yelled at you, and then just told you I lied. What do my parents have to do with my progress with what happened?"

"It's baby steps, darling. One day, you will realize how important to your recovery it is what you just said. I want you to think about it until our next session. If you still don't know, that's okay. You will figure it out." She smiled. "Let's go see your parents."

We stood up and walked out to the lobby where Carlisle and Esme were. They quickly stood up and hugged me.

"She did great today," Emily said." I'll see you guys again the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Even though I'll be out of town next week, you can call me if you need to talk." She squeezed my hand. "Just think about it, Cole. Think about your family, and why what you said would be important your recovery." I was confused to say the least. Why were therapists so freaking cryptic?

I was so excited Sunday night, I barely slept. I couldn't wait to get to shadow Carlisle again. And for the whole day! When I got up that morning after my shower, I spent forever trying to decide what to wear. I wanted to look professional. I went with a pair of grey slacks and a turquoise, striped, button up shirt and white tank top with the sleeves rolled a little past my wrists. I hoped it looked professional enough to be around patients all day.

_Oh my God! I get to be around patients. I get to watch actual medical things that aren't happening to me! So cool._

"Cole, are you ready?" Carlisle asked from the doorway.

He was wearing his usual black slacks, light blue shirt, and tie that was a few shades lighter. See, he looked like a real professional. I looked like a kid that wanted to play dress up.

"Do I look okay? Should I wear something else? Is this professional enough? Maybe I should change my shirt and add a scarf," I said, going back through my dresser.

"Cole, you look great — very professional." He chuckled.

"Maybe I should tuck my shirt in?"

"You look wonderful, but if you don't come eat, we're going to be late." He smiled.

I followed him out of the room after grabbing my phone. I ate quickly. I was just so excited for today. I still couldn't believe I would get to watch Carlisle work. He had a great bedside manner, and I loved seeing it. My dad was so great with people. I felt so lucky to get to call him my dad.

"We got you something!" Esme sang, handing me a blue box. It looked like a really big ring box. I knew that blue. Alice loved that blue — Tiffany & Co. She placed it on the counter in front of me.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"Well, every doctor needs a good watch." Carlisle smiled as I opened it to find the most beautiful watch in the world. It had a rectangular face with little diamonds around it.

"This is mine?" I asked, taking it from the box.

Carlisle took it from me. "Yes," he said. "Since you write with your left, this should go on your right wrist. May I?" he asked as I gave him my wrist. He put it on and snapped the clasp closed as I shook my wrist. It was snug, but not too tight. Just snug enough so it wouldn't move around too much.

"I love it," I said. "Thank you!" I hugged them both.

"You are very welcome, _tesoro_. Now when I ask you to take someone's pulse or count their respirations, you'll have no problems."

"You're gonna show me how to do that?"

"Of course, my little assistant." He kissed my forehead. "We need to get going. Wouldn't want to be late."

"Have a great day. I wanna know everything!" Esme said, hugging me.

"I will. Love you, mom."

"I love you too, baby. Have fun," she said as we separated.

She and Carlisle did their normal face sucking goodbye. I say it crudely, but it actually wasn't too bad. Much better than what Emmett and Rose do. Now that was face sucking.

Once we got to the hospital, we went to Carlisle's office first. He put on his white coat and placed his stethoscope around his neck. Then he pulled two badges from his pocket.

"I had a new one made. Clip it to the bottom of your shirt." He smiled, handing one to me.

It had my name and a picture then under said "Dr. Carlisle Cullen's assistant'". I quickly attached it to my shirt with a grin.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let's go find you someone to learn vitals on." He laughed. "I'd let you use me, but well, I think we both know you wouldn't find any." He smirked.

I followed him back out of his office and to the ER, where Linda was sitting rubbing her feet.

"How far along are you?" Carlisle asked her.

"What? Oh, Dr. Cullen," she said, surprised. She then bent in and whispered, "How did you know?"

"You never sit down," he teased. "How far along?"

"Just about eight weeks." She smiled, patting her tummy.

"What?" I asked

"Don't tell anyone, but I'm pregnant." She grinned.

"Congratulations. Please, tell me Jim knows?" he asked.

"Who's Jim?"

"Dr. Robins is my husband. His name's Jim," Linda told me. "And yes, he knew before I did. That scoundrel." She laughed.

"I have to know how that happened, but while you tell me, would you mind letting Cole learn how to take vitals on you?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course, of course! Let me grab a cuff," she said, beginning to stand up.

"Allow me," he said with his hand on her arm. "You sit," He smiled, leaving and coming back with a few things in his hands. He pulled another chair over next to Linda and told me to sit. After showing me how to put the cuff, he had me do it on my own.

"Here use my stethoscope and place it right here," he said, pointing to near the crease of Linda's elbow.

I put the black stethoscope in my ears and smiled as I put the bell on her arm. He tweaked it a little. After not hearing it a few times, he tried. He got it right away, saying it was perfect and had me do it again. He nudged my foot when he heard the sound, and I heard it too. I giggled loudly and he nudged me again when he heard the second sound. I heard that as well. Overall, I was very proud of myself. I just took someone's blood pressure.

"OMC ER come in," a radio said.

Linda reached over and picked it up. She talked back and forth into the phone, while writing something's down.

"Incoming, six year old girl, fell from a tree house. Compound fracture to the left tibia and possible concussion," Linda told Carlisle.

"Okay, page someone from ortho and let CT know she'll be coming," he said. "Cole, you can observe, but stay back. If anyone tells you to move, please do it. This little girl is not going to be happy, so don't be alarmed when she screams, because she will until we clear her head injury and can sedate her."

"What does compound fracture mean?" I asked as I followed him into a room. He checked something, and then grabbed a pair of gloves and began walking again.

"It means the bone has broken through the skin. It's a little grotesque, and you may not want to see it. If you can't handle it, there's nothing to be ashamed of," he said as we walked to just near the doors.

A few minutes passed before an ambulance pulled up. The little girl was screaming as she tried to thrash around, but one little pep-talk from Carlisle and she held still. He promised her everything would be all right, and that if she held still, she could have a lollipop. It actually worked, but then again she was six. I think she really wanted that lollipop, because even when he touched her leg — by the way totally nasty looking — she held still. He praised her over and over as the orderlies and a few nurses took her from the room and he peeled off his gloves.

"It doesn't look like she has a head injury, but with kids a CT is usually called for to be safe. Once she's done there, an orthopedic surgeon will look at her leg and take her to surgery as soon as possible to set it and close the wound," he told me.

"You're gonna give her a lollipop, right?"

He smiled. "When she gets out of surgery, there will be one waiting for her."

"Good, because she deserves it."

"That she does, Now, let's go find some more patients for you," he said. leading me out of the room and to the nurses' station.

He grabbed a file folder and read it quickly. "Stomach pains — bed 4," he told me. "I'd like you to take his vitals, all right?"

"Yep," I said as he handed me his stethoscope again.

I took the old man's vitals as he said how adorable I was. He was like eighty, so I think it was more of a "I remind him of his great-grandchildren" thing.

"Blood pressure is one-sixty over one-hundred, pulse is at one-hundred and four, and respirations are at twelve," I told Carlisle as I handed him back his stethoscope.

"You're blood pressure is a little high, Mr. Warta," he said. "Do you take anything for it?" he asked as he listened to the man's chest.

"No, don't take a thing but vitamins. Haven't been to a hospital in years. My primary says I'm healthy as a horse. I could live another fifteen years," the man's gruff voice said as he leaned back again. Carlisle placed his hands on his stomach and began to gently feel around.

"Belly's a bit ridged, not something I want to see," Carlisle said.

"I'm sure it's indigestion. My Adele forced me here," the man said. "So, you're in high school?" he asked me.

"Yeah, freshman."

"I'm going to order an ultrasound of your stomach and get some blood work done, sir. We'll figure out exactly what's going on, but I don't think it's indigestion," Carlisle said, writing on the folder.

"Do what you want. So, sweetie, you want to be a doctor? A mighty fine career choice. My youngest grandson is pre-med right now. He loves it. I bet you'll be a great doctor. I own a hardware shop in town. When you graduate, I want you to come in and tell me. You hear?" he asked me. "I'll remember a cutie like you. You remind me of my daughter when she was your age. Such a smart girl."

"Thank you, sir," I said.

"We'll be back to check on you, Mr. Warta," Carlisle said.

"Bye." I smiled.

"See ya soon, sweetie," he said as we walked out.

"Dad, what's wrong with him?" I asked.

"I won't know for sure until I get some tests done," Carlisle said, looking down at the folder sadly.

"He'll be okay, though. Right?"

He exchanged the folder with a nurse. "Let's go see someone else."

"You know what's wrong, don't you?" I whispered.

"My senses allow me to smell something no human could. I do know what's wrong," he confirmed.

"It's not good?"

"No, _tesoro_, it's not. From the scent, I'd say he doesn't have long. I'm sorry. Those are the cases I don't enjoy."

"He's so nice."

"He's eighty-three. He's had a long life," he told me. "Sutures?" he asked with a ghost of a smile.

"Sure," I said, following him in again.

Carlisle did a lot of stitches, and we even went upstairs to give the little girl her lollipop. I didn't see Mr. Warta again. He was sent to oncology with a diagnosis of stomach cancer. I was really sad about him. He was just so nice.

When we got home that night, Carlisle and Esme sat in the living room with me. As they talked, I thought about my session with Emily. I still hadn't figured out what she meant. I kinda doubted I would. Honestly, what does wishing Carlisle and Esme were my biological parents, have to do with my recovery? Maybe that wasn't what she meant. Maybe she was talking about my trust with them. I mean, that made sense. Most people who had been through what I had, didn't trust very easily. I got that. I think the only reason I did trust them, was because they were vampires. I couldn't tell Emily that, though. I was just lost.

Almost too quickly, it was Thanksgiving morning. I walked downstairs in my pajamas to fine the TV on a parade, but no people. The kitchen smelt good, so I expected Esme to be near, but she wasn't.

"Hello," I called.

"Come out back, Cole!" Carlisle yelled.

I shrugged and grabbed my jacket and boots from the closet before going to the glass door. I walked out, down the deck stairs, and froze.

_Oh my god!_

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	51. Chapter 51

**Edited 8/16/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

"Josh!" I screamed, running towards him.

Carlisle caught me and stopped me. "Not too close quite yet, darling," he said.

"Josh," I said, still not one-hundred percent sure I wasn't dreaming.

He smirked. "Hey, sweets. Miss me?"

"Please, hug me?" I asked as he and Carlisle shared a look, and then Jasper nodded.

I knew that was a yes, so I ran for it. He caught me up quickly, but set me down just as quick. I next moved to Jasper and Alice, telling them I loved them and missed them so much. I kinda laughed when I noticed Alice's shoes — stilettos. The fact that they had to run a few thousand miles didn't matter to Alice — always fashion first. Surprisingly, they didn't have flaw on them.

"You look great, baby girl. So great," Josh said, smiling.

"Me? Look at you. Such a handsome devil" I giggled as Carlisle and Esme joined us.

Carlisle pulled me back just a little and closer to him. He was just being overprotective and safe, so I let him.

"Why, thank you. Were you right? Am more handsome than Carlisle?" He laughed, turning his face to the side and posing.

"Yeah… no." I giggled.

"Darn." he chuckled as I hugged him again.

I didn't miss the fact he wasn't breathing with me so close. When I pulled away, he took a breath. I also noticed the wind was blowing my hair back, so that was good. It took my scent away from him.

"Let's go inside," I suggested.

"_Tesoro,_ it's safer if we stay outside. I'll go get you another jacket and a blanket, and we'll go to the deck so we can sit," Carlisle said.

We all sat down in the chairs on the deck. Esme and Rose stayed beside me and Josh, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice sat across from us. Carlisle came out with one of his big coats, a hat, gloves, and a huge down comforter. He bundled me up and sat beside me.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Not too long," Josh said. "We went hunting first, but Alice timed it pretty good."

"How long are you staying?"

"We're going back later today. Right now, I'm okay, but you are very sweet smelling, so we don't want to push it."

"Apples and cherry blossoms?" I laughed.

"Yeah, only sweeter."

"I can't believe you're here. This is the best surprise ever — really. How long was this planned?" I asked, looking to Carlisle.

He smirked. "A few weeks."

"So, I have specifically learned how to umpire baseball for this occasion. I've been told you have a mean arm, and I wanna see it," Josh said.

"Vampire baseball! So much better than regular."

"Hell yeah!" Emmett cheered.

"The turkey won't be done until five if I have it planned right, so we have…" Esme looked at her watch, "Six hours."

"I'll go shower!" I said, shedding the blanket.

I ran upstairs and hopped in the shower. I dressed really warm and, of course, wore my Cullen shirt. I made my way back downstairs, and only Carlisle and Esme were left — both dressed and ready to play.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked.

"They went ahead and ran, taking the equipment." Carlisle said.

"We have to go further away this time since it's not storming, but knowing Emmett, they've already started without us." He chuckled. "It's about an hour drive, and then a four mile run, so we should get going."

"Alrighty. Am I dressed warm enough?"

"I packed a few blankets and instant hand warmer to be safe, but it's supposed to get to the fifties — unusually warm," Esme said as I climbed in the back seat of the jeep and buckled myself in with the harness.

The ride was much bumpier than last time as we climbed the mountain. The jeep roared through the terrain as I bounced around even with the harness. This spot was much further southwest through the national forest, but when we parked it, was beautiful. You could see for miles.

"Here, let me see your wrist," Carlisle said, holding a patch. I gave him it and he stuck the thing on. "This should help with your motion sickness, and if you keep your eyes closed, I think you'll be fine. I'll go slowly, but we'll still be going at least ninety miles an hour, if you're all right with that."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said as he bent down and I hopped on his back.

"Hold tight, _tesoro,_ all right?"

"Yep," I said as he took off.

I buried my head in the back of his neck as we flew through the forest. It didn't take long to get to the clearing, and I heard thunder all the way. They had started without us or, more than likely, Emmett was just showing off. As we came to a stop, I kept my grip on Carlisle. I seriously didn't do well with them running. I was nauseous even with the patch.

"Are you okay, baby?" Carlisle asked.

"Nope," I said, sliding off his back. As I ducked my head, I breathed deeply through my nose and he rubbed my back gently. "Yeah, I'm good," I finally said after a few minutes.

"Good, let's go!" He smiled I followed him to the made-up pitcher's mound and he gave me a ball.

"Me, Rose, and Pixie against Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper. Josh is the umpire and Cole is permanent pitcher!" Emmett yelled. "Carlisle's up first."

Carlisle took his place, flipped the bat a few times, and lined up with a smile.

"Give me something good, _tesoro,_" he yelled.

I threw the ball and he hit it, cracking it into the forest. Emmett promptly ran after it. I didn't actually see him go, but one second he was behind me, then he was gone, and just as quickly was back. Carlisle was on third crouched down, ready to run again as Alice stepped up. Emmett handed me the ball and went back to his place in the outfield.

You'd think with their speeds, the game would go fast. But not when Emmett liked to argue with Josh about every call, and Esme had to step in. It was actually pretty funny, to be honest. We played three games, but after the first Josh, Alice, and I switched positions. I took Josh's as umpire — so I could rest — Alice took mine, and Josh joined Emmett and Rose's team. With me as umpire, Emmett didn't dare argue, so the second and third game went by quick. Every time Carlisle was at bat he'd make sure I was doing okay with the cold. To be honest, it wasn't that bad until three when the little sun that had shown through the clouds went away and I became friendly with the instant hand warmers.

"Two to one. Carlisle's team wins," Emmett sighed, pulling money from his pocket.

He handed a few hundred dollar bills to Jasper. Jasper just smirked, counted a thousand dollars out loud, and patted Emmett on the back.

"Don't bet against the future teller's husband," he said.

"What have I said about gambling?" Esme said with her hand on her hip.

"Oh, come on. We had too! We haven't played in forever," Emmett whined.

"He bet me," Jasper said, defending himself.

I had to cover me mouth to quiet the giggles. I could see everyone else doing the same thing.

"Have fun, sweets?" Josh asked — a few feet away from me.

"Yeah, how about you? Cullen style baseball tickle your fancy?" I smirked.

"Definitely pretty cool. So, how are you doing?"

"I'm good. These hand warmer's help a lot."

"I mean, with everything. How are you?"

"Oh, um, I'm a work in progress." I laughed sadly. "It's hard, but I'll be okay."

He smirked. "Of course, you will. You're you."

"Can I hug you?" I asked and he opened his arms. I placed myself against my chest as unwanted tears filled my eyes and his arms locked around me. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, but this is good. Today was good. We now know I can be around you, so we'll see each other more often. We won't have to go that long again," he said as he let me go.

"You're my best friend. I've missed you so much," I cried as he lifted his hand to wipe my tears.

"I know, sweets. I know, but someday there won't be any issues. I'll be able to be in the same room with you, and no one will have to worry that I'll hurt you."

"Don't go. Stay here."

"I can't. It's not safe. I hunted this morning and I can already feel the need to go again just being this close to you. Someday it'll be different, but not today."

"Don't leave me again, please?" I begged as Carlisle wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"_Tesoro_, he has to," he said.

"Josh, please, don't leave me again. You can do it. I'll do whatever I can to help, so you can stay. You came here today. You played baseball with us. You've hugged me! Stay!" I sobbed.

"Sweets, no. This is your life we're talking about. I won't risk that", Josh told me as I cried into Carlisle's chest.

"I don't want you to leave me again," I cried.

"I'll be back. What about I come every few weeks? The more I'm exposed to you, the better anyway. Right, Carlisle? I come every once in a while, maybe just for a few hours, and it will build up my tolerance. Right?" Josh asked as my head shot up.

I looked to Carlisle, practically begging him with my eyes to say yes.

"I think that is a great idea." Carlisle smiled, rubbing my back. "As long as you can handle it, I think it's a wonderful plan."

"That's awesome! We'll all come, and during the spring and summer we can play baseball. We've missed all of you, so it's perfect!" Alice sang, hugging Esme.

We spent a good while saying goodbye. It was almost five by the time Alice, Jasper, and Josh left. And since she had a completely unnecessary turkey in the oven, Esme had to run back with Emmett and Rose. Carlisle ran with them to the jeep with the equipment, leaving me alone for a few minutes.

I tossed the ball up and down as I sat on the ground, waiting. I tossed it up really high, expecting to catch it, but I didn't. I looked up to find Carlisle holding it with a smile.

"Let's get home. You have a feast to eat." He chuckled.

"I'm never going to be able to eat that much. Did she seriously make an actual turkey?"

"The smallest one she could fine, but yes, she wanted you to have the Thanksgiving experience — all the way down to the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie," he said as he helped me up. I climbed on his back and he ran me back to the jeep, a little slower than coming.

This was another first with my family — Thanksgiving. Sure, there wasn't a foster home that didn't do something, but it wasn't like this. They never sat around the table and said what they were thankful for. With my family, we did. Carlisle even said a prayer before I ate the unbelievably amazing food.

_Note to self. I love, love, love Turkey skin!_

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	52. Chapter 52

**Edited 8/17/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

Cole wouldn't speak to me about her therapy sessions. Of course I knew what was said, but not how she felt about them. It was now January. Cole had a good Christmas. Really, we all did. Josh, Jasper, and Alice came down for the day, making it that much better for Cole. It was good seeing her smile. She hadn't been doing enough of that lately. Over the break in school, I scheduled some ER shifts and brought Cole with me. She loved that, and she was a very fast learner. She was really good with the young patients. She'd sometimes hold their hand and tell them stories. When I had been called into an emergency surgery, I had to leave her alone. When I was done, I found her in the pediatric unit reading to a few patients. Besides seeing Josh, working with me was one of the other few times I'd see her smile.

This morning had been sunny, so Emmett, Rose, and Esme all went on an extended hunting trip. They'd be back by morning. I was fully prepared to keep Cole home as well, but she didn't want to. She wanted to go to school. I wasn't happy with sending her alone after last time, but she assured me she'd be fine. Needless to say, I arrived at the school ten minutes before the bell rang; I wasn't going to be late again. I watched Cole walk out of the school with her friend Sarah. Cole said goodbye quickly, and made her way over to me. I stood by the car, waiting for our normal hug, but all I received was a "hey".

"How was school?" I asked as we drove.

"Fine. Midterms are at the end of the month, so I need to study."

"I can help," I offered.

"I need to make flash cards. Maybe we can do that tonight."

"Sounds like fun. I thought we'd grab something for you to eat in Seattle. since mom wasn't expecting this trip, and didn't leave anything. Otherwise, I could cook."

"Something out is fine."

The rest of the ride was almost silent spare Cole's heartbeat. She didn't make much of a sound and that worried me. She never used to be this silent. And I _always _received that hug, which was lacking today.

As always, Emily came out to get Cole just after we arrived. I stayed in the waiting room and mindlessly skimmed through a magazine. I tried not to listen to Cole when she spoke with Dr. Peck. This was her time and she deserved as much privacy as other patients were allowed. But sometimes, especially when I hear her crying, I couldn't help the fact my mind tunes right in.

"Calm down, Cole. It's all right," Emily said.

"No… it's… not! I can still feel it sometimes!" Cole sobbed.

"I know, honey. I know," Emily sighed.

"It hurt so much. I can't get that pain out of my mind. Nothing has ever hurt so bad, not even having my entire left side crushed. Almost dying didn't hurt that bad," she cried. "The feeling of knowing no one cares, of being all alone. I don't ever want to feel that again, but because of you I do!" she screamed. "You make me relive it! I hate this!"

"It all a process. You can't truly heal until you've understood what happened."

"I know what happened! I was raped over and over and over, every night for months. I know what happened."

"And now you have to deal with that. You've held this in, and it's time to get it out," Emily told her as Cole's ragged breathes became worse and worse.

She was in a full blown panic attack by the time Emily had the receptionist call me back. When I opened the door, Cole was rocking back and forth on the sofa, hugging herself as she hyperventilated.

"I can't calm her down. Maybe you can. Otherwise, she needs an Ativan," Emily told me as I rushed to kneel in front of Cole. I pried her hands from around her sides and held them in mine.

"Cole, look at me. Focus on me," I ordered as she stared wide-eyed at me. "Good. Breath with me," I said, placing her hand on my chest. "Do you feel that?" She nodded. "Focus on it and try to match your breathes to mine. Do it with me, _tesoro_. In," I demonstrated, "and out."

"I… can't!" she shrieked.

"Yes, you can… In slowly with me." I took a deep breath. "And out with me," I told her. "You can do it," I encouraged. She slowly, but surely synced herself with me. "In," I said. "And out," I repeated over and over until she threw her arm around my neck and collided with my body. "I've got you, baby girl. It's all okay now. I've got you."

"Daddy," she whimpered into my neck. Her wet cheeks rested in the crook of my neck and shoulder.

"Cole, are you okay?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Cole sniffled as I maneuvered us around, so I could sit with her on the sofa.

"How about we call it a day," Emily said. "But can I give you some homework?"

"What?" Cole asked.

"You're deepest fear is being all alone with no one to care about you. I want you to write me a list of everyone that cares about you, and tell me why you'd think they'd stop."

"Okay."

"And share it with them."

"They'll just tell me I'm wrong."

"Make them give you a real explanation as to why. Just because what you say would never be true, doesn't mean they can't tell you exactly why," Emily said. "Dr. Cullen, can you help her? Maybe if we do you now, Cole will understand what I'm looking for."

I smiled and squeezed Cole's hand. "Okay."

"Go ahead, Cole. Take your time."

"One day you'll realize I'm not worth all of this trouble. I did this to myself," Cole said without much hesitation.

This had been on her mind for a long time. Probably since we met, and everything that I've said hadn't made enough impact to change her mind yet.

"First off, you didn't do this to yourself. What happened was not your fault in any way. You are fifteen, thirteen when it happened the first time — a child in every sense. You were ignorant in the way the world works. You had no way of knowing what would happen or fighting anyone off once it started. As for not being worth it, my dear child, you are worth everything. I've told you that before, and I'll tell you every day until you believe me. Even if it's forever. I can't imagine my life without you as much as without Esme, Emmett, and Rose, any of our family. Because you completed our family. I will never leave you, and I will always care about you. There is nothing that will change that," I said, wiping her tears. "I love you."

She smiled sadly. "I know."

"Wonderful," Emily said. "I want you to do this with at least your mom and brother, and anyone else you want to. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, I can do that," Cole said.

"All right then, I think you two are good to go. Have a good weekend, and I will see you again on Tuesday," she said as we stood up.

I kept an arm around Cole as we walked out. "How are you doing baby?" I asked.

"I'm okay."

"Well, what would you like to eat?"

She smirked. "Buffalo wings."

I laughed. "Extra buffalo sauce and a large glass of milk?"

"You know me too well," she said as I opened the door for her.

That evening Cole and I made flash cards for a few of her classes. I quizzed her a bit, and she did really well. Esme got home early Saturday morning. She explained Rose and Emmett weren't quite ready to come home, but she couldn't stay away. She curled up with me on the sofa in Cole's room. I didn't want to be far, but figured she wouldn't want to share her bed.

Esme made her breakfast as I watched the news. When the mail came, I sorted through it like any other day. Only today, there was a very formal letter with a seal I recognized well. If the seal hadn't given it away, the postmark from Italy did.

I froze as I held the letter from The Volturi in my hand. My main thought was Cole. How was I supposed to protect her from The Volturi — from Aro? He had always been a friend, but if he knew a human knew about us, he could very easily order Cole's death, and it would have been completely within his right. He could go as far as to order all my entire death.

"Carlisle? What is it?" Esme asked.

"Aro," I said turning over the envelope. I slid my finger under the flap and tore it open, pulling the elegant paper out.

_Dearest Friend,_

_The time has passed so quickly since your battle. You never wrote for help, so I've sent someone to make sure you lived. You weren't there, but luckily, you weren't hard to follow. I wasn't much shocked to find you've taken a human. You always were so sympathetic to them. One could cry, and you'd jump through fire for it. So the fact that you risked your entire coven's wellbeing for it, doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me is the fact that your human is still with you, even with the newborn you've taken. How is the fellow? Is he following your diet?_

_Now, about the human. I want to meet her. I promise no harm will come to her, but you can't deny me this. She's apparently become as much as your child as the other's. A human child. Astounding, my friend. I want to meet the being that has stolen your coven and made you break a rule that ought not be. I wish to know what's so special about her you risked your lives for her. Do not deny me, friend._

_Aro_

"He knows," I whispered.

"No, no, he can't," Esme said so quietly only I heard.

"He wants to meet her, and he's not asking."

"Cole, why don't you go upstairs? Your father and I need to speak alone," she said.

"Is something wrong?" Cole asked, oblivious to the letter I held in my hand which could very well mean her death.

"No, _tesoro_. We just need a moment," I told her as she slid off the bar stool.

"All right. Let me know when you're done. Love you guys." She gave us both a quick hug before going up the stairs. She closed her door and sat down.

"He'll kill her or change her. She's not ready for that!" Esme shrieked

"I know, _amore._ I know. He promises no harm to her, but… maybe I should go to Volterra and explain to him she's not a danger. He knew about the fight," I said passing, her the letter.

She quickly read it. "I don't trust him."

"I don't either. not about Cole, at least."

"If you go, he could hurt you."

"He won't hurt me, love," I said as my phone rang — Alice.

"Hello," I answered.

"You have to go — you and Cole — or he will come. He hasn't planned on hurting her, but you can't deny him."

"I'm not taking Cole into The Volturi Castle. That's a death sentence!"

"You have to. We'll all come and stand united for her, but there is no other option. When I saw you received that letter, I looked for Aro's decisions. He won't hurt her, but you have to explain."

"It's leading a lamb into the lion's den. It can't be safe."

"There's no other option. You don't want him to come. It would only make things worse."

"This is incredibly dangerous."

"It's the only way. I see us all leaving Italy together — Cole just as human as when she arrived. It's our only option."

Alice was right. Going was our only option. We couldn't seem as though we were hiding something. And any Volturi members coming here wouldn't end well for at least a few humans. But there was a chance, a great one that Cole, or any of us for that matter wouldn't leave Italy. Esme and I made the decision. We'd be going to Italy, and Cole would be coming with — but only us. The rest of the family didn't need to be involved. We brought Cole into this family. She was our reasonability. If anyone should be punished, it was us.

We walked up to Cole's room hand in hand, silently praying Cole would forgive us for once again putting her life in danger. I opened the door and found her sitting on her bed with a curious look.

"We have to talk, _tesoro_," I said, sitting down at the foot of the bed while Esme sat next to her.

"What's going on? What happened?" she asked, worried.

"We received a letter today — from Aro. Do you remember us telling you who that is?"

Her breathing hitched. "The Volturi. The leaders of the vampire world."

"Yes. Aro wants to meet you."

"He's going to kill me," she said as Esme rubbed her back.

"No, darling. He promised no harm would come to you. He just wants to meet you," Esme told her.

"But I'm not allowed to know, and I do. And they know I know. That's not good"

"From what the letter says, it seems they've known for some time. If it was his intention to kill you, he wouldn't have sent a letter," I said.

"When do we have to go?"

"As soon as possible. The sooner he meets you, the sooner this will be over."

"What about school? Therapy?"

"We'll come up with something. A death in the family, maybe. They'll understand, sweetie."

"I'm scared."

"Don't be; it will be fine. We'll protect you," I told her, trying to convince myself as well. It had to be fine. I won't lose Cole. I'd give my life to save hers if I had to.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	53. Chapter 53

**Edited 8/17/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Carlisle's POV**

The flight wasn't hard to book. However, it wasn't going to be as fast as I'd have like. I wished we'd kept the jet instead of donating it. The flight I had booked left early from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The first layover was in Amsterdam, and we'd be there for a little more than an hour. From there, we'd fly to Rome — another hour layover — and then we'd fly into Pisa, Italy, from which we'd rent a car and drive to Volterra. In all, it'd be a fifteen hour trip with the car ride. Cole would be exhausted. Knowing her, she wouldn't sleep well on the plane. She was already scared to death, but she took it in stride — trying to be brave. I had called Dr. Peck, the hospital, and the school, informing them that my father had passed away and the family was going back to New York for some time.

Rose and Emmett weren't happy with being left behind. Neither were Jasper, Alice, and certainly not Josh, but this was our doing. If something were to go wrong and we didn't survive, they would. Aro would hopefully grant me that last wish that they be left in peace. He had been my friend for many years, and though he may see what we did a mistake, I never could. I could never regret loving Cole — never regret taking her as my daughter even if it meant my death. Maybe, just maybe, I could convince him to kill me and let Cole go. Highly doubtful considering the problem is that she knew, but I'd beg for it. I'd plead, get on my knees, and grovel if it would do any good.

It was just after four o'clock in the morning when I gathered plenty of cash, credit cards, our passports, and ID's and packed them in a bag I intended to carry on the plane with Cole's medication and a few first aid supplies, just in case. Once that was done, I went to check on Esme. She was finishing our bags and Cole's.

"I remember when Alice bought her this," she whispered. "I remember when Alice bought her all of this." She chuckled sadly. "I never thought one of these could be the last thing we'd see Cole alive in," she sobbed, holding a shirt to her chest as I wrapped my arms around her.

"It will be all right, _amore_. I won't let her die. Aro will listen to me. He has to," I said, holding her tight as she sobbed into my chest.

"We can't lose her Carlisle!"

I held her a little closer. "We won't."

I held Esme until it was imperative I woke Cole up. Esme finished packing, and I went into Cole's room. She was sound asleep due to the Ativan I gave her last night. She was anxious and couldn't sleep; it was necessary. I placed my hand against her cheek first, bent down, and kissed her forehead.

"_Tesoro_, I need you to wake up," I said as she moved her head. "It's time, baby girl."

She opened her eyes and softly said, "M'kay."

She pushed the blankets off and got out of bed. I waited until she patted off towards her bathroom before leaving her alone.

When we arrived at Sea-Tac, we picked up our tickets and went through security and customs with little problem, except for the metal detector going off from the steel plates in Cole's hand. One quick, uncomfortable pat down by a female TSA agent and a wave of a wand, and we were on our way to the terminal. I wanted Cole to eat before we got on the plane, so we went to the food court. She barely touched the bagel, but drank the orange juice and a refill before we took our seats to wait for the plane.

"I thought Esme and I can trade off since there are only two seats in a row in first class. Is that all right, sweetie?" I asked Cole.

"Yeah, that's fine," she said, biting her lip nervously.

"You should sit with her first," Esme suggested. "She's a nervous wreck."

"If you're sure?"

I knew Esme didn't want to be far from Cole for even a second. She had kept her hand on her since we made it through customs. Cole twitched nervously in her seat as the flight attendant called first class. I stood up, throwing my medical bag over my shoulder, and tucked Cole's pillow and her blanket under my arm. Her hand found my free one quickly. We walked, Esme with one of Cole's hands, me with the other, to the gate. I fished out the tickets and ID's, dropping Cole's hand for a moment to hand them to the woman who smiled politely at Cole.

"Nervous flyer?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," I lied

You could call it that, or the truth; Cole was about to face the most powerful vampires in the world. We boarded the plane and Cole took the window seat. Esme sat right ahead of us as I sat down with Cole. I tucked my bag under the seat in front of me before giving Cole her neck pillow and spreading the blanket over her legs.

"Once we get in the air you, should sleep. This will be a long journey," I told her as she nodded mindlessly and she stared out the window. She was scared, with good reason. We might never come home.

Once we were in the air, I handed Cole her iPod and she turned it on to the song she appropriately named, Emmett's song. She rested her head back, but didn't close her eyes. Her legs twitched up and down as her little hand trembled in mine.

"Can I give you half a pill? It will relax you and let you get some sleep," I said, reaching down for my bag.

She didn't respond, but held her hand out for it once I broke one in half. She drank it down with some water and laid her head back again. It didn't take long for it to take effect. She dozed off quickly.

Two hours in, Esme and I switched. She promptly pulled the arm rest up and snuggled next to Cole's sleeping form. I tried to relax with a medical journal, but my mind stayed on Aro. He may have promised no harm, but he wasn't the most trustworthy of men. I could only hope my willingness to bring Cole to him would prove my thoughts wrong, and he would, in fact, let us leave unscathed.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Cole's whimpers.

"She's having a nightmare!" Esme whispered harshly as I jolted from my seat and peered behind me.

Cole clutched the blanket with white knuckles as her whimpers grew stronger even with Esme's loving caress. They quickly turned to screams before either of us could wake her up.

"Cole, wake up. Honey, wake up!" Esme insisted, caressing Cole's cheek. I ran around and pried Cole's hand from her blanket.

"_Tesoro_, wake up!" I urged as the flight attendant came to investigate. Cole's screams had everyone in the cabin leering at us.

"Is she all right?" the flight attendant asked

"Cole!" Esme raised her voice as Cole gasped and panted awake, her eyes fierce, going every which way.

"Should I try to find a doctor?" the woman asked.

"I am a doctor. She had a nightmare; it's fine," I said as Cole's hand clutched mine tightly.

"Daddy… daddy," Cole whimpered as Esme rose and I sat down, pulling Cole into my lap.

"Shhh now, baby girl. I've got you. It was a nightmare. It wasn't real," I told her, rocking her back and forth gently. "Esme, my bag, please. Hand me the other half of an Ativan."

She quickly pulled the bottle out and passed me the pill. I tapped Cole's chin, and she opened, so I could rest the pill on her tongue before raising the water bottle to her mouth. She swallowed before snuggling her head in the crook of my arm. I pulled the blanket over her and kept rocking.

She drifted back to sleep with in a half hour, and stayed that way when we arrived in Amsterdam. I carried her off the plane as she woke up. Esme took our groggy child to the restroom, while I ordered her something to eat. The next leg of our flight was only two hours, and then another hour to Rome, so she needed to get some food in her for energy. Once we arrived in Volterra, we were going straight to Aro. I wouldn't spend more time in Italy than I'd have too.

I placed the sandwich, carrots and dip, and soft drink on the table as Cole and Esme walked back. Cole smiled when she saw how I had the carrots specially cut. In chips, so it was like dipping a chip as she once told me.

"Eat," I urged, pulling the chair out for her.

"I am," she said, starting on the carrots and ranch.

"How are you doing?"

"Scared out of my mind. Sorry I screamed on the plane."

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" I asked as she popped another chip in her mouth.

She raised her eyes to meet mine. "A bunch of vampires trying to kill me."

"No one will hurt you."

"We've talked about you lying to me. You're just as scared as I am."

Child could read me like a book.

"I am, but I have faith everything will work out. Like I said. if it was his intention to kill you. he wouldn't have sent the letter," I told her as she finished the carrots and pushed her chair back. I slid it back to the table and handed her half of the sandwich. "At least half."

"Grumble, grumble, grumble." She smirked before taking a bite.

"You can grumble all you'd like, but you are going to eat," I said with a smile.

She ate that half and two bites out of the other before throwing in the towel and saying she'd given up — her tummy couldn't fit any more. I then pressed the soft drink in her hand. A little sugar was exactly what she needed, and it put a little smile on her face.

It was late morning by the time we arrived in Pisa. We would be in Volterra by ten in the morning and, if all went well, out of Volterra before noon. Cole stayed awake for the last two plane rides and car ride. I was glad, so that way I could talk to her and tell her what to expect. Or at least some of what to expect.

"Aro can read every thought and memory a person has ever had by touching their hand. He'll need to touch your hand. We need him to see everything that you've done. How you've never once put the secret in jeopardy. I'll talk. Don't say anything unless he addresses you. Stay between Esme and I. Okay? We won't let anyone hurt you," I told her as the castle came into view.

"I can do this," she whispered as she gazed upon the ancient city.

I pulled the car under a walkway — away from the sun that shown bright. Esme and I pulled our coats up to cover our necks and secured a pair of sunglasses to be safe. Cole held both our hands tightly as we walked up to a door, which quickly opened. I lead the way in, Esme in the rear, with Cole in between.

"Carlisle Cullen. The Carlisle Cullen," a young man said as the door shut. "Aro's been waiting. You don't disappoint."

I looked at the man. I hadn't seen him before, though, it had been many years since I had set foot in the city. His bronze hair went every which way, but what confused me most were his burnt orange eyes. He drank both human and animal blood. Unheard of, except my family and the Denali sisters who shared my diet.

"It's good to meet you," I said, holding my hand out.

"Edward Masen," he said.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	54. Chapter 54

**Edited 8/17/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

The man named Edward didn't look much older than me, and he had Josh's eyes. I really hoped he wasn't a newborn, not in an enclosed space like this. To travel all this way to be killed by a newborn before even meeting Aro, that would just be the cherry on the crap sundae of my life.

"I'm not a newborn." He smirked. Huh? "I can read minds. Well, most minds." He smiled.

He didn't seem all that scary when he smiled. It was as if he were trying to distract me. To… I don't know the word.

"You're a mind reader?" Carlisle asked as he held me close between him and Esme, while we walked down the ancient corridor. Edward's black cloak swept up with each large step. I had trouble keeping up with how fast he was walking.

"I am, and as Aro promised, no harm will come to the girl. So stop planning on how to escape. It won't be necessary." Edward chuckled as we came to an elevator — the only new thing in this castle, most likely. "In you go?" he asked, gesturing us in. Carlisle went first, then me, Esme, and Edward filled in last.

"You're eyes?" Carlisle asked

"There are only so many murderers and rapists. Sometimes I have to placate my thirst with animals," Edward said.

"You don't feed like the Volturi?" Carlisle asked, suspicious.

"Not in years. It's just not something I enjoy, what with being able to hear each of their thoughts," he said. "Aro understood, and told me of your way. While I don't think I can never give up human blood entirely, I must say it satisfies as much as expected. At least until I can get to another city."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to a beautiful, marble hall where a woman stood. She had silky brown hair and the same eyes as Carlisle. An animal drinker.

"The Volturi has certainly changed," Carlisle murmured, making Edward and the woman laugh. As we reached her, Edward kissed her passionately, and then wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Cullen's, this is my Bella," he introduced.

"Hello," she said. "Aro is very happy you didn't disappoint. He hasn't left the castle in decades. He didn't want to start now."

"We were asked here, and as long as the promise holds true, hopefully we won't regret our decision," Carlisle said.

"Come, come. Aro is so excited to meet this little one, and I'm sure you remember Aro doesn't wait," Edward said as he and Bella turned on their heels.

I gulped as we walked down the dimly lit passage. Both my parents rubbed my back as they kept me tight between them. When we came to a large set of old wooden doors. Edward opened them and pushed them in.

Across the room there were three chairs with a man in each. On the far right, sat a blonde man — younger than Carlisle. His skin was so white. More so than any vampire I had ever seen. Though, his blonde hair could have added to it. He didn't look happy. He looked murderous with his dark red eyes as they glared a whole in my forehead. He was Caius. He had to be. On the far left sat an older man with long dark hair. He didn't look happy, either, but he didn't look angry. He just looked… bored. From what Carlisle had told me, that had to be Marcus, which left the one man in the middle with an evil grin. He clapped his hands like a child and laughed while coming forward to take Carlisle's hand. That was Aro, and he freaked me out.

"Ah, friend!" Aro exclaimed, ducking his head and clasping Carlisle's hand in both of his. After a few moments, he let go and looked to me. My skin crawled. "She is so lovely. So exquisite for such a young girl. Cole!"

"Aro, I'd like to introduce you to _my_ daughter, Nicole Cullen," Carlisle said, stressing the my. "Cole, this Aro."

Aro held his hand out for mine. "Give me your hand, child, won't you?" Aro asked and I looked up to Carlisle. I really didn't want to because it meant I'd have to let go of either him or Esme. Carlisle raised my hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"He won't hurt you. Will he?" Carlisle sneered.

"Never." Aro grinned as I let go of Carlisle's hand and Aro snatched it up in both of his. He once again ducked his head. "Poor girl," he murmured. "Such a troublesome life you've lived."

Tears welt up behind my eyes. What was he seeing? Was he seeing Mark? Mitchell, Ian, Brett? My biological parents? The vampire's that tried to kill me? Did he see the vampires being destroyed like I had? Did he see the good? Carlisle and Esme, Emmett, Rose, Alice, Jasper, Josh? Could he see all the good they've done for me?

"They love you very much," he said, letting my hand go so I could once again entwine it with Carlisle's. Esme had held my other one tight the entire time, and she gave me a little squeeze once it was over.

Lastly, Aro took her free one. "You are perfect for Carlisle. I knew one day he'd find you," he told her.

"I love him very much," Esme said.

"I can see that. Now that I've been caught up to what you've been up to, let me introduce your family to my brothers," he said to Carlisle.

He sped through the unneeded introduction. The brothers didn't care. They just looked to me, sending shivers through my body.

"I can see why she's so important to you. You've always had a thing for humans, but she is different. So much like you, my friend!" Aro exclaimed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was your child."

"I am his child," I whispered as the entire room stared at me.

I had just spoken out of line. I had just been disrespectful to the most powerful vampire in the world. The man that could kill me in a second, and there wouldn't be anything Carlisle could do about it. Suddenly, Aro laughed so loudly it hurt my ears.

"That is just…" He laughed and Carlisle shot him a look. "So you are then — a vampire's child." He snickered, walking back to take his seat in the middle throne. "What do we do with you?"

"She knows too much," Caius sneered.

"That she does," Aro agreed as Carlisle pulled me closer, edging me slowly behind him, so he could shield me.

"You said!" Carlisle roared.

"Oh, now, Carlisle. I never said I would hurt her, but you must agree, she shouldn't know all of which you've told her. It's not safe. For her or us."

"I protect her," he said. "The secret is safe."

"You did a mighty fine job of protecting her. She looked so close to death."

Carlisle tensed more, and then bowed his head. "I wasn't fast enough."

"Are you now?" Aro asked, nodding his head to someone. I was suddenly whipped around with Carlisle in front of me and Esme guarding my back. They both crouched low and I could hear the quiet hisses and growls as Aro laughed. "Oh, stop. She's fine. No one was actually going to hurt her." He smirked.

"We're leaving," Carlisle said, picking me up and holding me close to this chest. I buried my face in his neck and tightened my grip around him with my legs.

"We're not done," Aro said.

"Like hell we are," he growled.

"She can't leave here knowing about us," Caius hissed.

"She's a child. She's not a risk. She loves her parents and would never do anything to jeopardize them," Marcus said. "Let her go, Aro," he said with barely any emotion.

"Well, it looks like we have a tie. It's up to me, isn't it?" Aro asked.

"You promised no harm would come to her, Aro. I brought her here to appease you and prove she's not a danger to us. Let us go," Carlisle said fiercely as the door opened again.

Edward and Bella came back in.

"Heidi will soon arrive," Edward said.

"Ah, Edward. I have an assignment for you!" Aro said. "I am letting the Cullen's go, as long as you agree to check in often to be sure there is no danger. If you don't agree, well… I'm sorry friend," he told Carlisle.

"Edward, please, please agree?" Esme begged.

"I do miss America," Bella told him.

"Of course, I'll be sure she stays out of trouble," Edward said.

I was going home. We were going home together. That thought suddenly thrust me into darkness as I slumped against Carlisle.

**Carlisle's POV**

"Of course, I'll be sure she stays out of trouble," Edward said as relief flooded through me.

We were going home. Cole would get to live. Suddenly, Cole's little body collapsed against mine. She had passed out. All the fear we've been in had disappeared and left her mind reeling with the fact we were now safe. It was a perfectly normal human reaction to an extremely dangerous supernatural problem.

"May we go?" I asked, adjusting Cole in my arms.

"Edward, won't you and Bella show the Cullen's out?" Aro asked. "And. Carlisle. I'd like another visit in a few years. By then maybe young Cole will have decided what she wants to be — human or vampire. Though I won't force her into changing, I do implore you to stress the benefits of this life. She will always be at risk if she's human, and I'd hate to see you in that pain once she dies."

"It's her decision," I said.

"Then goodbye, friend. Take care."

Esme and I turned to follow Edward and Bella from the chambers. Esme held me close with a hand on Cole as we walked from the damned castle.

"We won't stay long once we come. Just a short time will appease Aro," Edward said as we reached the outside door. "Your family can resume their normal lives. We won't be much of a bother."

"Whatever keeps her safe from Aro. But when you do come, there is no hunting west of Seattle. We have a life to protect," I said.

"Maybe we'll stop in Duluth on our way. Sounds like someone deserves a visit from me."

"Do what you want, but keep Cole out of it," I said, opening the door.

I placed Cole in the backseat of the rental car, and Esme slid in so she could rest Cole's head on her lap.

"Is she all right?" she asked.

"Her mind just needs time to process. She'll be fine. Once we get to Pisa we'll find a hotel stay the night and, hopefully, get a flight out in the morning," I said, kissing both of them before sliding into the driver's seat and speeding away. Just before we arrived in, Pisa Cole woke — startled.

"Shhh, honey. It's all right. We're going home soon," Esme cooed, while caressing her cheek.

"It's over?" Cole asked.

"It's all over, _tesoro_. No one will hurt you. I love you so much," I told her.

"I love you too — both of you," she said. "Are we going to the airport?"

"We're going to a hotel. You need a goodnight's rest. I will find us a flight home as soon as possible in the morning."

"But it's still early," she said.

"We'll relax today. We'll head home tomorrow.

It was only noon as I pulled up to the hotel. Not exactly the best timing, so I hurried in and booked a room. We parked the car near a back entrance and I carried the suitcases in quickly, while trying to dodge the sun. As I opened the door, Cole was standing near a window, looking out.

"Baby girl, are you okay?" I asked, putting the bags down and placing my hand on her back. She nodded, but I smelt the salty tears streaming down her face. I turned her and she flung herself into my chest.

"I was so scared!" she cried. "What if he hurt you guys?"

"He didn't. No one was hurt. We're all safe and we'll be going home tomorrow," I told her as Esme came in.

She had just gotten off the phone with Emmett after Alice, telling everyone we were all right and there was nothing to be worried about. We'd be home soon.

"I don't like him," Cole said. "How could you be friends with him?"

"It was a friendship out of convenience — nothing more. I don't like him, either, but it's better to keep Aro on your good side. He's a powerful ally."

"Cole, how about getting a nice bubble bath? Doesn't that sound good?" Esme asked.

"Kinda." She sniffled as I wiped her tears.

"It's okay, darling," I said, kissing her forehead.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	55. Chapter 55

**Edited 8/17/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

* * *

**Cole's POV**

My midterms were over. I had a few days off before the new semester started again, and I planned to do absolutely nothing. Not that Emmett would ever accept that plan. He actually had the audacity to tell me he was going to teach me to snowboard, so we were going to Snoqualmie Pass east of Seattle to a Ski resort. Seriously, me on snow. Good thing Carlisle was coming because I didn't see this ending well. At least not without me coming home without something broken or sprained.

"It'll be fun!" Emmett said as he and Carlisle loaded the rented black SUV with our bags and equipment.

"Of course it will be! You'll get to laugh at me while I fall on my face over and over!" I said.

He smirked. "Someone will catch you."

"So not the point," I huffed as Carlisle closed the hatch and Emmett hopped down from strapping down the skis and snowboards.

"I won't let you fall," Carlisle said, kissing my cheek.

"You better not. But if you're so sure I'm not going to get hurt, why bring your medical bag?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.

"Better to be safe." He smirked as Emmett held the door open for me.

He lifted me up and over the second row of seats and I settled into the third row with a book and my iPod. It was more than a two hour drive to Snoqualmie Pass, where we were staying. Carlisle rented a cabin for me, Esme, and him. And then another for Rose and Emmett, since they weren't very big and God knows I didn't want to be anywhere that I might be able to hear those two!

The entire car ride Emmett kept going on and on about how hilarious it was going to be to watch me on a snowboard. This was until Rose slapped him. I thanked her with a hug as he sulked against his window — then he started singing. Even my iPod couldn't drown out the sound of "Wheels on the bus", so I started kicking the back of his seat. I think he enjoyed it because he wouldn't stop.

"This is probably the time most parent's would say something about behave or we're going home, isn't it?" Carlisle laughed

"More than likely," Esme said, giggling softy.

When we got to the resort, Carlisle got our cabin keys and drove us over. After he unlocked our door, I ran in straight to the bathroom. I had to pee like a race horse. By the time I opened the door, my pink snowboarding outfit was hanging on the back of it, a everyone else had changed. Esme was in lime green, Rose baby blue, Carlisle a multitude of orange, white, grey, and black, and Emmett's was like Carlisle's but red instead of orange.

"I don't even get to rest before you kill me?" I asked and they all laughed. "I take that as a no." I grabbed the jacket and pants and went back in to change.

Once we were on the mountain, Carlisle helped me attach the snowboard to my feet as I sat on the ground. Emmett and Rose were messing around with each other as Esme put on her skis. Carlisle's skis sat in the snow waiting for him.

"All right, you're secured. Take my hand and I'll get you on your feet," he said, standing up. I held out my hands and he lifted me up. I kept going forward and Carlisle had to stop me.

"Emmett, you do realize this is going to kill me, right? Just remember at my funeral this was all your idea! You murderous swine!" I yelled as I gripped Carlisle as tight as possible. I didn't like this. I was barely able to walk. Gliding down a hill on a piece of wood just wouldn't end well.

"It's all right, darling." Carlisle chuckled as I clawed at him to keep me up.

"Don't laugh at me!" I yelled as he moved back slightly, keeping his hands on my shoulders. "No!" I yelled as he tried to move and flung myself forward, once again attaching myself to him. "I can't do this. I don't wanna do this!" I cried as the board slid just slightly and I screamed. "Get it off of me!"

"Cole, it's fine. It's not going to kill you." Emmett laughed.

"Daddy," I whimpered, shaking.

I really didn't like this. I was terrified as he sat me back down on the snow.

"You don't even want to try?" he asked.

"No, I can't walk without tripping. This will kill me!"

"Just try once for me?" he asked with that voice.

I huffed before nodding my head as he stood me back up. His phone suddenly chirped with a text. He supported me with one arm as the other pulled the phone from his pocket. "Back down you go," he said, setting me down gingerly once again.

"What did it say?"

"A broken wrist is in your future if you try. So, no snowboarding," he said, taking the cursed piece of wood off of my feet.

"Aw, come on!" Emmett said as I internally jumped for joy. "Do we have to go ho—"

He couldn't finish his sentence because a skier came barreling down the hill. Carlisle pulled me away just time so they didn't crash into me. The guy kept going fast down the hill, hooting and hollering, having a good old time as he about killed me.

"Are you okay?" Carlisle asked, holding me against his chest.

"What an asshole," Emmett yelled, but the skier was long gone.

"I'm fine," I said as my heart slowed down. That scared the hell out of me.

"Let's go back to the cabin. We'll find something else to do, unless you'd rather go home."

"No, I have a book and the cabin has a fireplace. I'll just sit and read. You guys should have fun," I said as he picked up my board. He could seriously just give that to someone. I sure as hell didn't want it.

"Are you sure you won't be bored?" Esme asked.

"I wanted to relax this weekend, remember? Then Emmett came up with this idea."

"We'll stay with you," Carlisle suggested.

How could I say this politely? I wanted some me time! I wanted to just curl up with a good book in front of a warm fire, holding some yummy hot chocolate. Truthfully, Carlisle and Esme deserved some fun after all we had been through lately. Carlisle had been on edge since Italy ,and Esme's been… Well, to be blunt, smothering me with love.

"I kinda just want to relax by myself if that's okay?" I asked. "You guys should spend some time alone. The cabins not far from the lodge, and I know they have to have hot chocolate. I just want to curl up with a book and relax."

"Seriously! You've been smothering her. Let her be." Rose laughed.

"I guess we won't be far, and I have my phone — so does Esme. If you're sure?" Carlisle asked.

I smiled. "I am."

"All right, let's get back to the cabin," he said, leading the way.

After a long, drawn out goodbye, and being reminded multiple times that they had their phones, Carlisle and Esme left me alone. After changing into some jeans and a sweatshirt, I walked the not so far distance to the lodge for a big mug of hot chocolate. When I got there, I also ordered a pastry and sat down to wait. I got a text from Alice and about fell out of my chair laughing. She lied about the broken wrist after seeing how scared I was. She also said Carlisle and Esme needed some alone time, if I got her drift. Which I did, shuddering. She told me to enjoy my alone time and, quote "open myself for a little chat". I didn't know what that meant until a boy sat down next to me.

"Hey, no slopes?" he asked

"No, that would be very dangerous." I smirked, going along with Alice's text. I was a little apprehensive, but I knew she wouldn't let me get into any trouble.

"It is." He laughed, showing me the cast on his foot.

"That sucks. Why didn't you go home?"

"Family vacation. I'm fine, so no use in sending all twelve of us home because I couldn't stay vertical."

"Lucky. My dad would freak and have me at home in bed, while he checked on me every five minutes." I giggled. He laughed with me.

"So, your family's out on the mountain?"

"Yeah, coming here was my brother's idea. He thought he could teach me to snowboard. I called him a murderous swine."

"Tell me you at least tried!"

"I stood up. It moved."

"It does tend to do that." He laughed at me.

"Shut up." I giggled.

"So, how long are you here for?" he asked as my order was called.

"I'll be right back. That's me," I said, going to get the cup and pastry before sitting back down. "Only until tomorrow. It's a quick trip. You?"

"'Til Monday. We've been here all week," he said as I took a sip.

It was too hot and I jerked the cup away, spilling some on my pants. "Shoot," I said, quickly wiping it with my hands.

"Here…" He handed me a napkin. "So, I didn't catch your name."

"Cole. Nice to meet you…"

"Jack."

"Nice to meet you, Jack," I said, tossing the napkin on the end table.

"You too. Well, I actually should get back upstairs. Ankle hurts like a bitch and there's a pill bottle calling my name, but maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe. I actually have a good book waiting for me. Bye," I said, standing up as he wobbled away. I just talked to a boy — a stranger — and didn't freak out. Maybe, just maybe, therapy was helping. God knows I couldn't do that before.

I walked back to the cabin, feeling a little good about myself. I'd definitely be telling Emily about this. Me, Cole Cullen, just talked to someone I didn't know. I made it through a whole conversation without worrying about what he wanted or if something was going to happen. I felt free; I felt good, really good. Maybe this trip wasn't such a waste. I mean, who knows? Maybe that was the first step to letting my guard down. Maybe someday I'll be able to talk to a guy and even have a relationship. Okay, way too soon. But still, it was a start.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	56. Epilogue

**Edited 8/17/11**

**A/N: **This is the final chapter of She is Love. Outtakes are posted after this. The sequel is currently being written and called Love Remains the Same.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Cole's POV**

Winter soon turned to spring, and then just as quickly, to summer. The months passed quickly and turned to years and before I had even realized it. I was graduating high school. My therapy with Emily kept going and, a lot of the time, it went really well. I was learning to accept it wasn't my fault. One of the hardest things in the world to do, but I was learning. I had a few sessions where my anger came out, and I screamed and cried at Emily. I was so angry at Mitchell, Ian, Brett, and Mark. They all took something from me I would never get back.

It wasn't just my virginity they took; it was a part of me. The part that was supposed to trust, the part that was supposed to be a young old girl whose biggest concern should have been whether or not a boy liked her. They took my innocence. In the end, I had to be honest with myself. I had never been an innocent child. I had to grow up very fast, but that didn't mean I should have been forced into sex. Just because I had to know how to take care of myself, didn't mean I was ready for sex. I wasn't and, really, I still wasn't.

I hated them for making me so careful of who I trust. My family is a given, but friends? Guys? I didn't know if I'd ever be able to trust a guy. I know I was only eighteen, so it wasn't a huge deal now, but what about in ten years? Would I ever be able to have a normal relationship? I told Matt — the boy I meet on my first day at school — no to a date. I knew I didn't like him, but could I have if it wasn't for what happened to me? That I'll never know.

After my freshman year, Carlisle got me a volunteer position at the hospital. I read and sat with sick kids. It was amazing to watch their strength, and only made me want to help more. When Carlisle worked in the ER, he let me come with still. It never got boring and had only solidified my want to become a doctor like him. I loved watching him treat patients. When I saw him with them, I thought about how someday it would be me. I'd take everything he had taught me and all I've watched, and maybe make a really good doctor. If I could be one-one hundredth of the doctor he was, I'd be thrilled.

Josh came down a lot more now. His first year was hard, but he learned control and was doing so great. I should probably mention the fact that he found his mate! He, Alice, and Jasper were hunting down in South America, and came across a small coven — two males and a female. Rico was almost as old as Carlisle. When he and Josh saw each other, Jasper described it as nothing he'd ever witnessed. I guess watching two people form a bond instantly was pretty powerful, and it brought Jasper to his knees. The emotions were just unexplainable.

Rico was a human drinker until meeting Josh. He was controlled, but fed from humans because he didn't know of another way. Josh showed him that way. Josh had actually said he didn't care how much he loved Rico, if he fed from humans he wouldn't be with him. Luckily, Rico was open to the change and split from his coven to return to Alaska with Josh. He spoke Spanish fluently, since he was after all, Latin, but he also spoke perfect English, so he taught me some Spanish.

I liked Rico. He and Josh fit perfectly together, and it was good to see Josh like that. He was so happy. Almost as if he'd found a missing piece. I guess he kinda did. I think Josh thought he'd never find that. He was after all gay and now a vampire, so he thought it'd be impossible, but it wasn't, and I was so glad it wasn't. Their relationship was a lot like Carlisle and Esme's. They would hold hands, but unlike Emmett and Rose, kept intimate feelings intimate. They kissed and spoke sweetly, but where Emmett and Rose would jump each other in a group of people just because they wanted to, Rico and Josh would save that for private.

I honestly couldn't believe today was my high school graduation, or the fact I was somehow accepted into Yale. I think Carlisle might have had something to do with it, but he kept telling me it was all me. I start in the fall, taking my prerequisites, so I can major in Biology, and then apply to medical school there in a few years. I was actually going alone. I even had a dorm assignment. I think Carlisle was having the hardest time letting me go. I had to stop him from buying a house and starting to look for a job in Connecticut. I wanted this human experience — being on my own. Because when I finish my residency, I was being changed.

It wasn't that hard of a decision. I want to be with my family forever. The hard thing was when to do it. I had considered doing it after graduating, but I really wanted to become a doctor, and there was no guarantee I'd be able to once I was changed. Carlisle was an exception, not a rule. Just because he could do it, didn't mean I would be able to. So if it turns out I can't be a doctor after I'm changed, I would at least have had a few years of my human life doing it.

"Here's your dress, baby girl," Esme said, coming in my room with the garment bag.

I chose a white, strapless, A-line dress. It had a little beading around the middle, but was otherwise simple. Alice had helped me pick it out. I loved it.

"Thanks. I should probably get dressed, huh?" I asked.

"Wouldn't want to be late. This is your day, sweetie. Your father and I are so proud of you," she said as I opened the bag and pulled out the dress.

My hair was already done. It was down with a simple thin white headband behind my bangs. I wore my Cullen crest like usual, and Esme leant me earrings Carlisle had bought her many, many years ago. My make-up was light and my eyelashes curled just perfect.

Esme helped me zip up the dress, and fixed a little smudge from my mascara that I had cried off. I really couldn't believe I was graduating high school. And in a few short months, leaving my family to go across the country and attend college. It just didn't seem fathomable. Four years ago I never thought this day could come, but it did. It was happening.

"You look so beautiful," Carlisle said from my doorway as I did once last spin in the mirror.

"Really?" I asked, blushing like normal.

"You're all grown up." He chuckled sadly.

"Thanks."

I looked at myself in the mirror again. I was just at five feet tall. Yeah, I didn't grow much. Something's would never change. I never added much weight, just enough to look healthy, and my features just matured some. Still, underneath my eighteen year old self, I could see the little girl from four years ago. All of her dreams were coming true.

"Don't cry, _tesoro_. You should be happy," he said, hugging me.

"I am," I whispered in his chest as he rubbed my back.

"You have to get going. Mom already put your cap and gown in your car, and we'll be there before you have to line up. I love you so much, _tesoro_. You've made me the proudest dad in the world," he told me as he kissed my temple, before letting me go.

"I love you too. And I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you. Thank you, daddy. Thank you so much for helping me achieve my dreams."

"You're more than welcome, but this was all you," he said as we walked out of the room and towards the stairs.

He was right behind me and, as if someone was trying to get a laugh, I tripped before the bottom step — only to be caught by him and sat on ground level.

He chuckled softly. "Some things will never change."

"Thank God I didn't let Alice talk me into heels. I would never live down falling off the stage." I blushed as I inspected the white ballet flats that matched my dress.

"I made sure she knew heels were out of the question. I am not working today." He smirked.

"I have to go. I'll see you guys later," I said as Esme passed me my keys to my Volvo S60 they bought me for my sixteenth birthday. Carlisle of course picked it out and, while you might think a Volvo would be something an old person would drive, it was actually quite cute. I loved it.

After going through the little rehearsal of how we had to stand and what not to do, everyone had a little bit of time before the ceremony started. So, I went out to the lobby to find my family. Everyone came, of course. Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rose, Josh and Rico, and even Edward and Bella were waiting for me.

"You look so adorable in that gown. I need a picture!" Esme said, pulling out the camera. I gave a little, blushed smile as she snapped one. "Carlisle, get over there with her!" she ordered.

He came over and wrapped an arm around me. "Congratulations, baby girl," he whispered as Esme said smile and took the picture.

I had a picture with everyone, even Bella and Edward, whom I saw as friends. Edward did something for me, something I could have never asked. He killed Mark. He never told me the details, just that Mark could never hurt anyone else. I suspected it was pretty painful, and while it might have been wrong of me, I was glad. After killing Mark, Edward kept to an animal diet — save a few murderers or rapists that he heard went free. He said it was his way helping humans. He kept them safe from scum. While I didn't agree with it necessarily, I would never complain. He gave me peace of mind that Mark couldn't hurt anyone else, and for that I owe him. He also kept me safe from Aro, telling him I was no danger, so they won't kill me or change me before I was ready.

When a teacher called us students back, I gave everyone a hug and got in line. As the music started, we walked out. I sat in the second row and made sure to find my family in the back section. Emmett hooted and hollered, thoroughly embarrassing me. Sarah, who was in fact the class valedictorian, got up on stage and began her speech, telling us that the years we spent here would forever be with us, and that the future was ours to take, to make mistakes, and to learn from. It was really a good speech. As she ended, names were called.

"Nicole Cullen," the principle called, getting a standing ovation from my entire family.

I walked up the stairs shook some of the faculty member's hands before I was handed my diploma.

"Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole!" Emmett chanted, making me duck my head and blush as I walked off the stage.

I held my diploma in my hands. I had done it. I graduated high school, and now my life was about to start. As I walked out of the auditorium, Carlisle swooped me up and spun me around.

"I'm so proud of you!" he said, placing me back down before kissing my forehead. "Congratulations, _tesoro_!"

"Thank you. You wanna see?" I asked, handing him the diploma.

He opened it and grinned. "Amazing!" he said as Emmett handed him a bouquet of flowers. "You did amazing," he said, handing them to me.

"Congratulations, honey," Esme said, hugging me.

I was passed around until I came to Josh. "Way to go, sweets. You're going to do great things," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

"Thank you. And I promise I'll try to make everyone proud," I said.

"You already have," he told me. "Now, let's go party!" He laughed.

The summer went by too quickly before Carlisle, Esme, and I made the cross country road trip to New Haven, Connecticut. We drove my car, and they were just going to fly back in a few days. After Esme helped me decorate my side of the dorm, Carlisle had something to give me — a rectangular box that wasn't wide enough for clothing.

"I am so proud of the young woman you've become," he started. "You got into Yale and, though you don't believe me, you really did do it on your own. The fact that you wish to become a doctor just makes me crazy with joy, because I know you'll be amazing at it. The time you've spend shadowing me, you've learned faster than many interns I've taught. And when the time comes in a few years to start medical school, you'll need something." He placed the box in my hands. "Obviously, it's not new, but I know how much you light up every time I've handed it to you. This is yours, and when the time comes, you'll be using it to save lives."

I pulled the bow and opened the top. Inside was his black stethoscope. The one I always got to use when I helped him. The one that made me feel so great when I touch it, because I knew it was his. The greatest physician in the world just gave me their stethoscope.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's yours now," he said as he flipped the tag near the end that had always had his name on it. It now said mine.

"Thank you so much," I cried, attacking him.

"Pretty soon there will be another Dr. Cullen. You'll do great things, _tesoro_. Great things," he murmured, kissing my head.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! Like I said above, outtakes are posted in this story at the end, and the sequel is posted and called Love Remains the Same.

**Please Review…**


	57. 1st Outtake

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Early April between chapters 34 and 35

Summary: A week after the fight, the Cullen's recently arrived in Washington; Cole's hand needs surgery and once again Carlisle struggles with not being the one to take care of his little girl.

**Edited 8/17/11**

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

The rental house left much to be desired. It was small a cottage in the woods with three bedrooms, and not much room for the five of us. Esme had spoken with the contractors for the new house and hired a few additional workers to try and have the house done by the end of this month. It wouldn't be easy, and one of our many bank accounts would be taking a significant hit, but the green seemed to encourage the contractor to speed up the process in the cold and wet season.

Luckily, the hospital I was already hired at had no problem with letting me start early as an attending surgeon. But I couldn't assume my position as chief of trauma surgery until June, since the previous doctor hadn't stepped down. It didn't matter much to me. I would be working and helping people. I had only had three shifts as of now, but I enjoyed it very much. The staff was great, and the hospital was very advanced compared to others I had worked at. I knew I'd like it here, and so far the family does as well.

One of the first things I did once we arrived was make Cole and appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for her hand. She was in so much pain that it was obvious the bones weren't staying in place like I wished. She would need surgery — again. Rose felt horrible for hurting Cole, but after Cole gave her a little talking to she had seemed to be better. Cole very clearly stated she didn't blame Rose and it was an accident. If anything, she should have realized it might not have been the best idea to take her hand when she was already writhing on the jungle floor. If there was anyone to blame, it was William for biting Rose.

I could hear Cole's quiet moans of pain from her bedroom. We had an appointment at eleven, but it was only nine in the morning, so I decided to go ahead and grab another pain pill for her. She desperately needed it. I walked to the back of the cottage to her open door. She was lying, propped up in bed with the TV on low. Her plastered arm was resting on a stack of pillows in the sling, which wasn't secured around her neck. She tried to smile through the pain when she saw me, but it was a weak smile. Her face was still pinched in pain with eyebrows furrowed together.

"Is your water fresh?" I asked as I shut the television off. "I want you to take another pain pill."

"Yeah, mom just brought it in before leaving to get cleaned up," she said.

She had taken to no longer calling us Carlisle and Esme. Instead mom and dad, which thrilled us both. I handed her the glass and popped the pill in her mouth as she sipped the water.

"That should help soon. Can I see your hand?"

"Sure."

I inspected the tips of her fingers, which was all that stuck out of the large white plaster. Her nail beds lacked response when I pressed — possible vessel and nerve damage.

"Are your fingers numb or tingling?" She bit her lip and nodded reluctantly. "How bad?"

"Just slightly. It's not too bad, though."

"Even a little isn't good, _tesoro_. But the doctor will fix it."

"It's going to be more painful afterwards, isn't it?"

"The bones haven't had much time to fuse together, so hopefully they won't need to be re-broken. I actually doubt they'll need to be re-broken, just set properly. The pain won't be worse than it already is." I smiled.

"I don't like surgery."

"No one does, but unlike last time, you're not fighting for your life. So, it won't be as bad."

"Is there any chance I won't need surgery?"

"No, he's going to want to operate. It's clear the bones have slipped from how I set them. They need to be secured with plates and screws."

"I won't have to stay in the hospital, will I?"

"He'll probably want to keep you overnight, but maybe I can convince him to let you come home the same day — do it as an outpatient surgery. I'll be able to keep an eye on you, but it would be up to him."

"You're very persuasive. Be persuasive, please?"

I smiled and chuckled softly. "I'll try."

Unfortunately with her broken pelvis, Cole couldn't walk and it would seem odd for me to carry like I had been doing around the house, so she had to use a wheelchair. Cole didn't like wheelchairs, so that put her in a bit of a foul mood when we got to the doctor's office next to the hospital. Esme filled out the new patient paperwork as I messed with Cole, trying to brighten her mood up by wheeling her back and forth with my foot. She tried to hide the little smirk, but she couldn't. I saw it.

It wasn't long until a nurse came out and took Cole for x-rays. I had spoken with the surgeon, Dr. Reynolds, when I made the appointment and told him what had happened to Cole. He was a hand surgeon, but he did want to make sure her pelvis was okay, so I knew Cole would be a while in x-ray. I heard the quiet hiss of a swear when the nurse and x-ray tech moved Cole on to the table for a picture of her pelvis. They couldn't be as gentle as I was when moving her, so she was in pain when moved to the hard surface.

"Why are they hurting her?" Esme whispered.

"I'm sure they're trying to be gentle, but her pelvis is still very sore. Any movement will hurt. I know, Esme, I don't like it either," I whispered back, clutching her hand in mine.

"Cullen?" a nurse called.

"Yes," I said.

"You guys can come back. Your daughter will be in the exam room shortly," she said as Esme and I stood up and followed her into the back to a small exam room.

We both sat down in the plastic chairs and waited for Cole to be wheeled back to us. When she was, she didn't look pleased in the slightest. But at least the nurse didn't make her get on the table. She just parked her in front of us and left, closing the door behind her with a "the doctor will be in shortly".

"Are you doing all right, baby?" Esme asked.

"They're not very gentle," Cole sneered angrily toward the door just in time for someone to knock and come in.

"You must be Cole, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen," Dr. Reynolds greeted. He was middle aged, probably late forties with dark hair.

"Hello. Thank you for getting us in," I said, shaking his hand.

"No problem. So, Cole, I've taken a look at your x-rays, and not good I'm afraid." He shook his head and grimaced.

"Did any of the bones remain set?" I asked.

"The fifth metacarpal did, but really it needs to be set as well to keep it in place. Her pelvis on the other hand, looks good. The fracture is stable."

"Good. So you definitely recommend surgery for her hand, right?"

"Yes, and soon too. I'd like to get her in within the next few days. I can clear my schedule, but we can't wait. I'm sure you're in a great deal of pain, hmm?" he asked Cole who nodded shyly.

He went over the procedure thoroughly, making sure Cole understood what she was in for. The months of physical therapy and possibility of more surgery. When he was done, he asked if she had any questions. She only had one.

"Can my dad be with me?" she asked, taking him and me by surprise.

"Generally, we don't allow parent's in the OR."

"It's… it's just the last time I had surgery, I about died. I'm scared, and I know if he's there, maybe just when I'm going to sleep, I'll feel better."

"You know what? I think we can arrange that," he said. "He can accompany you in, and once you're under, he can leave."

I liked what he said, except for the last three words — "he can leave". I didn't want to leave. I wanted to be there for Cole the entire procedure. It began feeling like a repeat of January. I had to remind myself that her life wasn't at risk. I would walk out of that room, and soon enough, we could take her home.

Cole's surgery was scheduled only two days after her appointment, which meant it was a mad dash to get her into a pre-op appointment with a general practitioner. We did, though. She had her EKG, physical, and blood work done the next morning. All of which came out good, which meant she was clear for surgery.

We needed to leave for the hospital in an hour, which meant Cole needed to wake up at five o'clock in the morning. I hadn't heard a peep from her all night, so I knew she slept well — no nightmares. And when I walked in, she was still out like a light, snoring ever so softly you couldn't even call it snoring. No human could have heard it. I rested my hand on her cheek, rubbing softy to wake her up.

"Hmm," she groaned, slowly fluttering her eyes open.

"Good morning. It's time for you to get ready," I said. "Mom's already in the bathroom waiting for you, so she can help you shower."

Unfortunately, Cole couldn't stand, so we went back to Esme helping her bath. She held her with one arm and helped Cole wash her hair with the other. It was team work to get it done, and occasionally Rose would need to help. But that was only if Cole was in so much pain she couldn't help.

"Fun." She smirked, rolling her eyes. Cole didn't enjoy the help.

"Ready?" I asked, sliding an arm behind her back to sit her up.

"Yeah."

I slid my other arm under her legs and plucked her from bed. I walked down the hall with her to the only bathroom this house had. At least it was big, and everyone but Cole could shower in less than a minute. Still, I couldn't wait to have more room, considering the counter top tended to be covered in Rose's stuff. For a vampire that seemed to look perfect, she put more time into getting ready than most humans.

We left for the hospital right on time with an overnight bag for Cole. Dr. Reynolds wasn't comfortable with letting her go home the same day, so a night stay was required. But just one night. He promised if everything went well — which he was sure it would — she would be able to come home later tomorrow afternoon.

I placed Cole in the backseat of my Mercedes. She clutched her green-blue blanket in her hand, while I clicked the seatbelt in, placing it behind her back since her casted arm hung in a sling in front. I got up front with Esme and pulled out.

Emmett and Rose were going hunting before coming to the hospital. They'd be there when Cole woke up. But they needed to be sure they could stand being in the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, Esme checked Cole in and I carried her back to a pre-op room. I left as Esme stayed, while she and a nurse helped Cole change into a gown. I went ahead and changed into scrubs, so I wouldn't have to leave Cole again. When I came back in, Cole had an IV drip of saline in her left arm, and her right was propped up on a few pillows. The cast saw was already sitting on the counter with a temporary splint. Dr. Reynolds would remove the plaster cast before taking her to the OR. That way the OR would stay sterile.

"You won't leave until I'm asleep, right?" Cole asked, cautiously eyeing the saw as I sat down on her right side. Esme was on the left with her hand in Cole's.

"No, I'm here and I'll go right with you to the operating room. Are you nervous?" I asked.

"Um… yeah," she admitted as if it were a crime. Her eyes stayed glued to the saw.

"That won't hurt. I promise. How's your pain? Were you given anything?"

"A shot in my IV since I couldn't take a pill. It doesn't hurt right now. How do you know that it won't hurt when they use a saw to cut this thing off?" she asked, moving her eyes to the bulk of plaster.

"I've done it myself hundreds of times. No one has ever told me I hurt them."

"That's because you did it. Your careful and gentle. He might not be."

"He will be. And if he's not, you say something and I'll stop him." I smiled.

"Can we come up with a signal? I'll pull my ear and you make him stop?" she asked as I chuckled with Esme.

"Sure, you pull your ear and I will stop him," I said, kissing her forehead as Dr. Reynolds knocked on the door before coming in.

"Good morning, Cole. How are you feeling?" he asked with a smile as he inspected the tools before washing his hands.

"Good," Cole said softly, watching him as he moved to pick up her chart off the counter.

He skimmed through it quickly before returning his attention to Cole. "Has the IV pain medication helped?"

"Yeah."

"Good. So what we're going to do is remove your cast and put you in a splint to hold your hand in place before surgery. After that's done, an anesthesiologist will come in and talk to you for a bit before we take you to the OR. I'd say you should be well on your way to a peaceful slumber in the next hour and a half or so." He smiled, pulling on a pair of gloves. I had to move so he could sit, and Cole's eyes filled with fear.

"I'm just moving to your other side," I assured her as I walked around the gurney and stood next to Esme. I placed my hand on the back of Cole's head to let her know I was there. She flinched when Dr. Reynolds turned the saw on to test it.

"You're gonna cut my arm," Cole said as her jaw quivered.

"No, I won't. This saw will cut through the plaster, but when it touches your skin, it will only tickle. It won't cut you. I promise," he told her.

"You've never accidently cut someone?" she asked.

"Never, and I do this for a living. Let me know when you're ready. Take the time you need."

"I can deal with the pain, but please, tell me the truth. Is this gonna hurt?"

"Considering you're a special case and we're removing a cast when the bones are out of place, it might be a little painful. But that's why we've given you pain medication in your IV, and we can always give you more. The only thing that might hurt is once the cast is being cracked open. It might jostle the already broken bones, but I will be gentle. If I hurt you too much, tell me and I'll give you some more medication," he told her truthfully. I was very thankful he told her exactly what to expect, and more thankful he offered more pain medicine.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said, biting her lip.

He made quick work of sawing through the cast on both sides, and then popped it open with the spreader, holding her arm gently so it didn't move. He took the cast off and threw it away with the padding. Cole's hand looked horrible. It was clearly deformed and bruised heavily.

"Eww," she said.

"Next time you see that hand, I swear it will look better," he told her as he started applying the splint, keeping Cole's arm still on the pillow. "How's the pain?"

"It didn't hurt. Tingled, but I think the pain meds kept it from hurting."

"You were very brave, _tesoro_," I told her, kissing her head.

"You certainly were," Dr. Reynolds said. "I've had grown men cry like babies with one broken metacarpal; you have three. Good job, sweetie."

"Wasn't that the easy part?" Cole asked.

"Let's just say I don't tend to remove casts when the bones haven't had the chance to heal. Without that pain medication, it would have hurt… A lot more."

"Then thank you for making sure I had pain medicine." She laughed.

"No problem. I'm going to get going, but I'll be back in about forty-five minutes. I have a quick procedure before yours, so get some rest and an anesthesiologist will come in shortly and talk to you. Then I'll come back and we'll take you to the OR."

"Dad can still come with, right?"

"Of course. I'll be back later."

Once he left, I went back to Cole's right side and took my seat again as she laid her head back. She turned her face to me and I smiled, gently rubbing her upper arm.

"Take a nap," I suggested.

"M'kay. Maybe a short one," she sighed, closing her eyes. "I love you guys."

Esme and I both bent down and kissed her each of her cheeks.

"We love you too, sweetie," Esme said.

Cole quickly drifted to sleep just before seven-forty-five. Her surgery was scheduled for eight, but I already knew it would be a little later than that. The surgery itself would take a few hours. With all the small delicate bones in her hand, it would take Dr. Reynolds some time to fix everything. Including her tendons and ligaments, which though we couldn't see on an x-ray, I knew would have to be repaired as well. Rose basically crushed Cole's hand like a vice, causing three of her metacarpals to break literally in half. The breaks weren't clean, though. So at least her second and forth metacarpal would need to be reconstructed to a point. If it had been a clean break, the doctor could just insert pins into the bone. But with her hand, he couldn't. He'd have to use plates and screws, making this a tedious surgery and leaving Cole with months of recovery and possibly another surgery in a few years to remove the plates.

"Knock, knock," a woman said.

I knew her. She was an anesthesiologist I had the immense pleasure of working with in the short time I had been here. She was good, very good, especially with younger patients.

"Dr. Cullen, this isn't your patient," she said, looking in the chart. "Nicole _Cullen_. My apologies. She's your daughter?"

"Yes, Dr. Ramirez. This is my daughter Cole, and my wife Esme," I said as she shook Esme's hand. "Cole, sweetheart, wake up," I cooed, kissing her temple.

"Hmm… no," she mumbled.

"Yes, there's someone you need to meet."

"Na-uh," she groaned, making everyone suppress a chuckle.

"Cute." Dr. Ramirez chuckled.

"Very," I told her. "_Tesoro,_ you're already awake, so how about opening your eyes? The quicker you do, the sooner you can go back to sleep," I said as her eyes popped open.

"What? Oh, hi," she said, looking at Dr. Ramirez.

"Hello, dearie. I'm Dr. Marissa Ramirez, your anesthesiologist. I just need to ask you a few questions, then you can ask me some, and we'll get you back to sleep as soon as we can. Does that sound like a good plan?" she asked.

Cole smiled tiredly. "Sure."

Twenty minutes later, Marissa was done with her questions, and Cole's only question revolved around making certain I would be there when she was going to sleep and when she woke up.

"I'll start to wake you up as soon as Dr. Reynolds is done. You won't remember that, though. You'll really start to wake up in recovery, and by then, both of your parent's will be there," Marissa said, just in time for Dr. Reynolds to come back in.

"How are we doing in here? Are you feeling good about this, Cole?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. Am I going to be in another bulky cast?" she asked.

"You'll be in a fiberglass cast — not plaster. It won't be as heavy or bulky, and you can even choose the color." He smiled.

"Pink?"

"No problem."

"Any chance of me convincing you to let me go home today?"

"The surgery is going to take a few hours. You'll be under for a while, and I'd rather have you here overnight to monitor you. As long as everything goes well, you'll be going home in the morning."

"Fine… Exactly how long will this take?"

"It all depends on the tendon damage. It could take an hour — it could four. I just don't know."

"I'll be asleep, so I guess I don't really care."

"All right. Any more questions? Anyone?" he asked, looking to me and Esme.

"Not a question. A statement," Esme said. "Take care of my daughter," she said, threateningly.

"As if she were my own. I swear, Mrs. Cullen, she's in good hands with me. We need to go," he said, looking to the clock.

"Okay… Honey, you're gonna do great. Absolutely amazing. I will be right there when you wake up. Is there anything you want when I see you?" Esme asked Cole.

"Just you guys," Cole said, fighting tears.

"We'll be there. I love you, baby," she said, pressing her lips to Cole's forehead, then her cheeks, and her forehead once again.

"I love you too, mommy," Cole whispered, wrapping her left arm around Esme's back.

After two minutes, Dr. Reynolds cleared his throat. The OR was waiting. so we did need to get going. One last kiss from Esme, and the bed rails were pulled up. As we started pushing Cole out, I moved to her left side and held her hand while we walked through the double doors.

"Here you go, Dr. Cullen," an assistant said, handing me a cap.

I let go of Cole's hand just long enough to tie it around my head, put on a mask, and quickly wash my hands before following the gurney into the OR. I had to remind myself this wasn't my OR. I wasn't in charge here like I was used to. I would have to leave before the actual surgery started.

"Okay, Cole, can you slide over to the table for us?" a nurse asked.

"Let me help, baby," I said, knowing it would hurt her pelvis to slide.

I placed an arm under Cole's legs and the other behind her back, lifting her off the gurney. The nurse held the IV line as a tech moved the gurney away so I could step forward and lay Cole down. I fixed the blankets over her and another tech handed me another warmed one. The OR was chilly, and Cole only wore a loose fitting gown. I spread it out over her legs and midsection as Marissa began preparing the electrodes for the EKG monitor. She lifted Cole's gown at the top and slid her hand in, keeping Cole covered as she applied them to her chest.

"So, sweetie, are you in high school?" Marissa asked, making small talk, trying to calm Cole's nerves. Her little heart was racing.

"I start in the fall. My mom homeschools me right now since my accident, and considering we moved in the middle of the semester. I'll be a freshman."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"A brother. He and his girlfriend will be juniors."

"I have three older brothers. I wished I was an only child." Marissa laughed.

"Never. I love Emmett and Rose."

"So, you all get along well?"

"Yeah. Em calls me shorty, munchkin, tiny, sticky, but I love it because then I can call him an ogre or a bear. And Rose takes me shopping and is great to talk to." She smiled.

"Well, that's good. Okay, sweetie, are you ready to go to sleep?" Marissa asked as she sat down on her stool near Cole's head.

Cole's hand tightened in my own as her head turned to me. "I can't die from this, right?"

"There's very little chance anything will go wrong. You are not going to die. It's going to be okay. When you wake up, your hand will be fixed and we'll be there," I told her.

A tear fell from her eye. "I'm still scared."

"I know, and that's okay. But this isn't like last time. Your life's not in danger. I love you, baby girl. I know you're going to do great. You'll come through this perfectly." I smiled as I caressed her cheek.

"I… don't remember going to sleep last time. What's it going to be like?"

"Was she given a relaxant before her last surgery?" Marissa asked.

"No… She was in cardiac arrest," I told her.

She must have realized exactly why Cole was so terrified over what some people would feel was a simple procedure. You go to sleep, your fixed, and you wake up — simple. But Cole didn't feel that way. She knew what could go wrong — the worst case scenarios — and she didn't take this lightly. Not after what she's been through

"Oh, okay. Well, honey, once I give you something in your IV, you should start to feel a little disorientated. Most people describe it as a flying feeling. You'll just feel very relaxed and you'll get tired. Your dad will be right here. You talk to us, and we'll explain what's happening," Marissa said as she prepared the syringe with the sedative. "Let me know when you're ready."

"I wish mom were here," Cole whispered.

"I know, sweetie," I said.

"She would hum to me. All my fears would disappear."

"Carlisle," Esme said from down the hall. Her voice was at a decibel only I would hear. "Do what I do," she said as she softly started to hum.

I joined in, following her tune smoothly as I caressed Cole's face. She smiled as she closed her eyes and listened. All the fear seemed to fade from her face.

"I'm ready," Cole told Marissa as I continued Esme's tune. I watched intently as Marissa raised the syringe and connected it to Cole's IV port.

"Here we go, dearie," Marissa said as she slowly pushed the plunger down.

I moved my eyes to Cole's face. She had opened her eyes again, and squeezed my hand as she watched my face. I lowered the mask and gave her a brilliant smile as she did the same before I pulled it back up.

"Everything's gonna be all right," she whispered as her eyes began to dilate. The sedative was taking effect. Marissa disconnected the syringe and picked up the mask.

"Okay, Cole, breathe deep for me and count backwards from one-hundred," she said, placing it over Cole's face.

"I love you, daddy. Tell mommy and everyone else I love them," Cole said, blinking, attempting to clear the fuzziness feeling from the medication.

"I will. I love you, _tesoro_," I said "_Dormi angelo mio. Ti amore così tanto e mi vedrete nuovamente la prossima volta che si apre quelle sfere d'oliva._" I murmured, knowing she didn't understand but a few words. She had always said me speaking in Italian was calming and beautiful, even if she didn't know what I said. "Sleep my angel. I love you so dearly and you will see me again the next time you open those olive orbs"

"One-hundred, love you, ninety-nine… ninety…" she mumbled, falling asleep on ninety-eight.

I bend down, lowered my mask, and pressed my lips to her forehead, moving the cap up a little on her head.

"I don't want to leave her," I said.

"She'll be fine, Dr. Cullen," Marissa said.

"She tends to keep a low blood pressure. One-ten systolic is high for her."

"I've read her chart. I know."

"She doesn't like the oxygen mask or cannula, so when you wake her up, watch her. She'll try to take it off."

"Okay."

"She's quiet. She might not admit to pain, but her face will tell you anything. If her nose crinkles, it's really bad." She nodded. "She is the most important thing in the world to my family. Nothing… and I mean _nothing_ can happen to her. Please, treat her as if it was your child. This is the most special and brave little girl you'll ever meet. She's been through too much to die from this."

"Dr. Cullen," Dr. Reynolds said. "We'll take care of her. She's your child and your one of us, so she's family. She'll be fine." He slid into the gown and a tech helped him pull on gloves. I nodded and bent down again to kiss Cole's cheek.

"_Ti amo, tesoro,_" I whispered.

"I'll be out once I'm done, but I'll send someone out with updates to give you a timeframe. She's in good hands," he said as he began inspecting Cole's hand. I could hear the broken bones crunch and rub together.

"Okay. Bye-bye, baby girl," I said, placing one last kiss on Cole's head before reluctantly walking from the OR.

I stopped as the door closed, highly considering going back in. I wanted to — I needed to. I shouldn't have been leaving Cole alone. No, she needed me… I needed her. But what good would I be in there? She has a very adept surgeon, a great anesthesiologist, and an all-around amazing surgical team — all of whom I trust. She didn't actually need me in there. She didn't need me, but I still needed her. I needed her to get through this and come back to me. I needed my daughter.

I suddenly found myself in Esme's arms in the waiting room. I didn't even register walking out here, but Esme held me tightly, humming the same thing she had me hum to Cole. It was soothing, but it didn't ease my fears like it did Cole's.

"She's going to be fine, Carlisle. We can hear everything that goes on in there, out here," Esme said in my ear, standing on her toes to reach since I hadn't bent down like I normally would. I hadn't even wrapped my arms around her — which I quickly did once I realized.

"This is going to be a long few hours," I said.

And it was. Each second felt like an eternity. From what I heard, everything was going well with Cole. She had severe tendon damage, which took some time to repair along with setting her broken bones. Every time I heard the drill, I cringed knowing it was screwing a plate into Cole's bone. I had to remind myself it was necessary. If Cole's bones weren't set, they'd heal wrong and it would cause her more pain.

Emmett and Rose arrived shortly after Cole's surgery started with stuffed bears and balloons, but they couldn't stay. The smell of being on the surgical floor was too much. They said they would come back once Cole was moved to a room where blood wasn't constantly flowing freely in large amounts. Truthfully, I thought Rose hated knowing she'd caused this, and that's why they couldn't stay. I didn't argue. I accepted their somewhat false reason and told them we'd call.

By the time I looked at my watch, Cole had been in there for three hours. We had been updated twice by a nurse, and I knew soon either a nurse would come out or Dr. Reynolds would. I had to stop listening into the OR. I couldn't stand hearing Cole's bones being manipulated and put back in place. Through all the different scents of blood, I kept my mind on Cole's, keeping track of how much blood she'd lost — not much, thankfully. She'd barely lost any with how quickly Dr. Reynolds stopped any bleeders. He was good, very professional in the OR. I did hear my name a few times as the team gossiped a bit, but nothing out of line was said. Just that it was strange how I started early. If it were them, they'd take the vacation time. I'd been on "vacation" time long enough. I wanted to get back to work, support my family, and save lives. I was what I did best.

When I heard Dr. Reynolds announce he was done, I sighed in relief. All that was left was to put Cole in a cast and wake her up.

"Vitals look great," Marissa said.

"Good. I'm done. You can start waking her up while I talk to her parents. If I don't get out there soon, I somehow think Dr. Cullen's going to blow an aneurysm. Poor guy's a wreck," Dr. Reynolds said as I heard gloves snap off.

"He's coming out," I said, rubbing Esme's hand.

Soon enough, the double doors opened and he walked out lowering his mask. We both stood up immediately.

"She came through like a champion. No complications what so ever." He smiled.

"Thank you," I sighed in relief, clutching Esme to me.

"Marissa is waking her up now, but you should be able to see her shortly. Now, her hand was much more damaged than I had anticipated. Literally, it looked like a vice had crushed it."

"It was crushed between the zip line and a tree," I lied. Alice said that story would work.

"She's lucky she wasn't hurt any worse. The force that cause that and her pelvis to fracture must have been tremendous, and she must have been going quite fast."

"It was terrifying to watch, let's just say."

"Yes, well, like I said the damage was pretty bad. I had to repair most of the tendons, and I wouldn't be surprised if she never had full motion again. That hand will probably always be a bit weaker than her left, since some of her nerves were severed by the bones. But with physical therapy, we should be able to get at least ninety percent of her strength back."

"Ninety percent is better than nothing," Esme said.

"Exactly. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on her and someone will be out shortly to take you to her."

"Thank you," I said, shaking his hand.

"You're welcome. Take care and I'll talk to you again soon," he said, walking back to the doors.

Esme and I both took our seats again, waiting and listening as Marissa woke Cole up. The first sound she made was… a giggle. She was giggling as I heard her gurney being wheeled out of the OR. Within minutes, a nurse came out and showed us back to the recovery unit where Cole was. Her eyes were closed and an oxygen cannula was on her nose giving her some extra oxygen. Marissa was standing over her, making notes in her chart. Cole's right hand was wrapped in a pink fiberglass cast from her finger tips to just past her wrist — her thumb was the only thing not secured in it. It was resting on a mound of pillows beside her, and an icepack was laying over it.

"Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen. How are you guys doing?" Marissa asked as Esme sat down in a chair on Cole's right side. She lightly caressed her cheek, making Cole giggle more.

"Good. How is she?" I asked, standing next to her on Cole's left side. I took Cole's hand in mine

"She's great. We've nicknamed her giggles. I think it's self-explanatory." She chuckled.

"Has she said anything?" I asked, knowing she hadn't.

"No, but watch out for her. She likes to poke."

"Poke?" Esme asked.

"Let go of her hand and wait for it," Marissa said.

I let go of Cole's hand and she lifted it, reaching up and poking my stomach with a giggle as her eyes opened slightly. She had a drugged up smile on her face.

"I," giggle, "can't," giggle — snort, "feels it!" Cole laughed as I recaptured her hand before she could poke again. I kissed the top of it.

"How are you feeling, baby?" I asked, not entirely sure she even knew what was going on.

"I can't feel," snort, "anything." She chuckled. The snort was just adorable. "Groove slam, work it back, space Cowboy just play that track. Gaga in the room, so starstruck cherry, cherry, cherry, cherry, boom, boom," she suddenly sang, slurring every word. I had no idea what the hell she was singing, but she did it with a smile, so I didn't care.

"I think you broke my daughter." I laughed to Marissa, kissing Cole's forehead.

She was still singing in between her giggle fits. I had seen patients wake up from anesthesia thousands upon thousands of times. Some of the most common reactions were confusion, nausea, wanting to sleep, sometimes they cry, and like Cole, sometimes they laugh. But Cole's reaction was the best I had ever seen. It was obvious she had no pain right now. She was happy and semi-alert. She didn't have any problems with her memory. She's reciting lyrics, after all.

"I put em' to sleep. I hold no responsibility if it turns out your child is just weird. It's in the small print." Marissa chuckled.

"My arm's pink!" Cole slurred, lifting her casted arm. I gently lowered it back down.

"Let's just keep that on the pillows. All right, baby?" I asked.

"Ha… I love you, daddy… papa Carlie." She giggled. Esme had to put her head down on the bed to hide her snickers. "Ezzie mama!" Cole slurred, patting Esme's head with her casted arm.

I once again moved it back to the pillows. It might not hurt now, but it would later, and it would be better if she didn't aggravate it by hitting Esme's stone head.

"Try to relax, sweetie. You're just waking up from surgery. You don't want to aggravate your hand by hitting anything." I told her.

"I wasn't gonna hit." she whined, losing her giggles.

Her little lip started to quiver. I quickly calmed her by kissing her head. "It's okay, sweetie. Try to get some rest, okay?"

"Everything's so… whoa," she said a little confused.

"I know, _tesoro_. It's the medications. Get some rest and when you wake up, everything will be better," I said, trying to coax her into sleeping, but she continued her soft giggles, even after closing her eyes.

If I related her to other patients with this reaction, I'd say she should be more… coherent soon, since she had been out of surgery for forty-five minutes now. She would be moved to an actual room here shortly, as well, since she had no complications coming off the anesthesia.

"I'm hungry." She giggled. Esme looked up to me.

"You can eat later, sweetie. Just get some sleep for now," I told her, smoothing her hair down.

"What would you like to eat later, honey?" Esme asked.

"Subway… No, wait, McDonalds. Uh, nah… I don't know." She giggled.

"Just think about it. You can have anything you'd like," Esme told her with a smile.

"I want your soup," she said, making my wife smile even more.

"Is it all right if I go home and make it? It takes a little while," Esme said, fixing Cole's icepack.

"M'kay… daddy stay." She smiled.

"Daddy will always stay. I'll always be here," I told her, kissing her little head.

I would always be there, even if she didn't need me. Letting go was the hardest part of having a human child. A part I wasn't ready for.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	58. 2nd Outtake

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Between Chapter 55 and 56

Summary: Carlisle allowed Cole to get her driver's license with one stipulation… She is careful. When Cole wrecks her car because she was speeding, Carlisle realizes he has to punish his daughter for the first time. (No spanking, that ain't my thing)

**Edited 8/18/11**

**A/N: **This outtake is dedicated to GCCULLEN who came up with the idea. I just wrote it. She was the mastermind. You're awesome girl!

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

Cole was just weeks away from turning seventeen. She was a junior high school and had grown into a beautiful young lady. It was hard for me to admit that fact; that she was a young lady. I just couldn't believe my baby was almost an adult. It seemed like just yesterday she called me daddy for the first time. While I found it utterly unfair that the moment I was remembering happened only three years ago, I was just blessed I had that moment at all. Still, I just didn't want my daughter to grow up. I wanted more of her saying "daddy" and, selfishly enough, I wanted more time where she really needed me. I wasn't asking for long — just a few more years. Could someone please grant me that wish? The fact was, no. No one could give me that, no matter how much I begged or pleaded. I had a limited amount of time where Cole really needed me, and that time was coming to an end.

"Dr. Cullen, your wife is on the line. She says it's an emergency," a scrub nurse said, holding the OR phone in her hand.

"Put it to my ear, please," I said as I tied off another suture whilst closing my patient.

I was worried Esme had called the hospital in the first place. And that fact that she told the nurse it was an emergency, instantly put me on alert.

"Carlisle," Esme said as the phone touched my ear.

"Yes, love. What's going on?"

"Are you busy? Is there any way you could get off work early?"

"I'm about done in the OR. I have to talk to the patient's family then I can probably get out of here early. Why. What's wrong?"

"First thing you need to know is she's okay — a little banged up, which is why we're on our way in — but Cole was in a minor car accident."

"What!" I exclaimed. "How banged up? What's her heart rate? Respirations? Is she bleeding?"

"She's not bleeding. Her heart rate is a little fast, but I'm sure that's because she's in pain. She's breathing okay. A little shallow, but again, I'm sure it's the pain."

"When will you be here?"

"Ten minutes."

"I'll meet you in the ER."

"Okay, I love you. I promise, Carlisle, she's fine — just banged up and a little shocked."

"I'm sure she is. I love you too. Bye, _amore_," I said. "You can take it away," I told the nurse. "Dr. Conwell, how would you like to tell our patient's family he came through surgery perfectly?" I asked the resident operating with me.

"I'd love to," he said.

"Great. You can also finish closing. I have to go," I said, passing him the needle and hemostat.

I pulled off the sterile gown and gloves as I exited the OR for the scrub room. I rushed through washing my hands — a nervous wreck as I imagined Cole being in a car accident. She must have been terrified. I knew I shouldn't have let her get her license, or at least bought her a tank like Emmett suggested. Esme and Rose shot that idea down the second it left Emmett's mouth — I considered it.

As I got down to the ER, Esme was just brining Cole in. My daughter's face was a portrait of someone in pain. The brims of her eyes were red and swollen, tears still filled the orbs. Her little nose was red from sniffling, and her jaw trembled lightly. My poor baby girl…

"_Tesoro,_" I sighed as Esme filled in the admittance sheet.

"Exam room three is open. I'll have Dr. Robins meet you there," Margret, the ER receptionist said, taking the form from Esme.

"Thank you." I smiled. "Sweetie, would you rather I carry you?"

"No," Cole said, pinching her brow together as she breathed in shallowly.

Her ribs were hurting her. I could already smell the blood pooling under her skin, forming a bruise from the seatbelt.

"She called Emmett from the scene of the accident," Esme said. "I went with him. I didn't think it was necessary to call an ambulance. Should I have?"

"No, _amore_, she has no life-threatening injuries. An ambulance wasn't necessary," I told her as Cole gingerly slid onto the gurney.

I went to the cabinet and pulled out a gown. She looked at me with a silent plea of no as I laid it on the end of the bed.

"Why?" she asked.

"Dr. Robins will need to examine you. It's obvious your ribs are hurting you. He'll want an x-ray, which means you have to change. Just do it now. Please, sweetie?"

"Okay," she sighed, and then looked to the door. That was my cue to leave.

"Do you need help?" Esme asked her.

"No, I got it."

"We'll be right outside," I told her, kissing her temple.

Esme and I left the exam room and closed the door. My love looked worried. Of course, she did. But she also looked like she was hiding something. She needed to tell me something she couldn't or didn't want to in front of Cole.

"How bad was the accident? What caused it?" I asked.

"She hit a tree head-on. I don't think her car is totaled, but I could be wrong."

"Totaled? I thought you said it was a minor accident."

"I didn't want to worry you. Carlisle, I don't know how you're going to react to this. But I'm pretty sure if I don't tell you, she won't or at least her telling you won't end well."

"What is it? You're worrying me."

"It was completely her fault."

"It was an accident," I defended. "It's not like she meant for it to happen. She wasn't doing anything wrong."

My daughter would never do anything wrong. She knew how hard it was for me to let her drive. She swore to be safe. The accident couldn't have been her fault. The roads were still slick from the rain earlier — she must have hydroplaned and tried to overcorrect the steering.

"She was speeding."

"Cole doesn't speed."

"Carlisle, I know you want to believe Cole wouldn't do anything wrong, but she did," she said. "She was going too fast on wet roads. We taught her better than that. You know we did. She made a mistake, yes, but one that could have been avoided if she had been following our rules."

"Cole was being reckless," I said, trying to believe the words that came out of my own mouth.

"While I believe the accident was quite the punishment, I also know she has to be held accountable for her mistake. Don't you agree?"

"Punish her?" I asked as she shrugged slightly, not actually wanted to say the words. I heard the gurney move slightly as Cole sat back down. It was time for us to go back in.

I didn't know what I was feeling, to be honest. I was angry Cole had disobeyed me, but I also felt horrible for the pain she was in. How on earth could I punish her knowing she was in pain? First off, she was losing her car. Totaled or not, she wasn't getting it back — which was the deal long ago. Before I had even let her take that driving class, she knew if I ever felt she was being unsafe, she was losing the right to drive. She had been unsafe — extremely reckless, truthfully. She could have gotten herself killed for crying out loud. What if the airbag hadn't deployed and she hit the steering wheel? She could have crushed her sternum, damaging her heart. What if the car had flipped? What if, God forbid, she had hit an innocent person?

"How are you feeling?" I asked Cole as Esme and I entered the room once more, while an ER nurse was taking vitals.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"We're not talking about that right now. Right now we have to make sure you're okay. So, how are you feeling?"

"Sore," she whispered.

"Mostly your ribs?"

"And my stomach. The seatbelt did its job." She frowned.

"Thank God," I whispered as Dr. Robins entered.

"Hey, Cole. I heard you were in a car accident. How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Sore. My ribs and stomach hurt."

"All right, well, let's take a look. Blanket goes over your waist, and then lift your gown," he told her as he washed his hands.

She did as he asked and covered herself with the blanket, before pulling the gown up, so he could lift it.

"I'm going to lay you back, baby," I told her as I gripped the release on the gurney and pushed it down. She went with it as her face pinched in pain once more.

Dr. Robins walked over and pulled her gown up to expose her stomach and lower part of her rib cage. The seatbelt left a defining bruise over her waist, and extended up her chest in a perfect pattern. Part of me was just thrilled she had been wearing the belt in the first place. Another part knew the likely hood of internal bleeding with a forceful impact. Thankfully, I already knew there was no internal bleeding. So, I was just glad she wore the belt.

"Okay, your belly is still soft, so I doubt internal bleeding — just a nasty bruise. Let's take a look at those ribs," he told her.

She winced as he pressed. I didn't hear any signs of fractures to the bone, so that made me feel a little better. But I might not have been able to hear a hairline fracture that was being manipulated, so I wanted an x-ray.

"How's Bryan and Kelsey?" she asked him as he smiled.

Bryan and Kelsey were his children. Bryan was almost four years old, Kelsey was about three. Cole and I had learned Linda was pregnant with Kelsey the day I thought her how to take vitals on Linda. Cole actually babysat every now and then for the children.

"They're good. Kelsey is on the run like crazy. Linda is at her wits end sometimes." He chuckled. "We were actually going to call you and see if you were up to babysitting this weekend, but I'm guessing you'll want to rest. I'm actually going to order it," he said before turning to me. "I'll get a chest x-ray and, if you'd like, an abdominal CT to check for internal bleeding. Though, I doubt she has any. BP is stable, belly's soft, but it won't hurt to be sure."

"Maybe just to be sure," I said, wanting to play the cautious father. Any doctor who had a child in Cole's situation would demand one. I knew there was no bleeding, but a human wouldn't.

"All right, I'll go set that up. Cole, you may have a fractured rib, so we'll check, but hopefully it's just badly bruised."

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem. I think x-ray is open, so we'll do that first."

As Esme and I sat in the waiting room while Cole was getting the x-ray and CT, I was trying to think of ways to punish her without seeming too harsh. Grounding her really wasn't much of a punishment, but I'd start with that. She wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere but school and home, eliminating her volunteering at the hospital and going shopping with Rose, or hanging out with Sarah — not that she did either much. I knew she looked forward to volunteering, so that would be a good punishment. I'd take that away. I had never taken things away from Cole. I had never had to punish her before, and I wasn't looking forward to starting that now.

"What's running through that beautiful head of yours?" Esme asked.

"How do we punish her?"

"I think the normal thing is grounding."

She was at as much of a loss as I was. When you had perfectly behaved children, you didn't have to worry about this type of thing. The only person we had ever punished was Emmett for breaking things. He was easy. Take away his games for a few weeks, and he'd fix everything and did his best not to do it again for a while.

"I was thinking taking away volunteering and going anywhere but home and school for starters. But I don't think that's enough for risking her life."

"I agree. I don't think she should drive for a while either."

"She's never driving again."

"I think that's a bit much. She should have to earn our trust back."

"I'd rather destroy her license and take away her birth certificate, so she can't get another."

"Carlisle." She smiled and breathed a laugh.

"I know," I said before kissing her.

Cole didn't wait at all for the x-ray or CT. She was bumped to the top of the list, since there were no real emergent cases. I didn't ask for it, but the staff at a small hospital considered their co-workers family. So if one of their own needed treatment, they accommodated as best they could — even if it was bumping an ankle sprain for five minutes. I guess some might have considered it wrong, but the ER really wasn't busy, and CT was open. Besides, it was more likely Cole's rib was fractured than the other patient's ankle.

"Cole's back in her room. I have the CT and x-ray results," Dr. Robins said as Esme and I followed him back to a computer.

He showed me the CT first. Like I knew there were no internal injuries — just a very bad bruise. He put her chest x-ray up on the light board next.

"No fractures," I sighed in relief.

"Nope, she was very lucky. How bad was the accident?" he asked.

"She hit a tree head on… While speeding," Esme told him.

"She needs to be thanking her lucky stars then. This could have been much worse."

Cole was quickly released and sent home with a mild analgesic and instructions to rest and ice her ribs. Once we got her home, I sent her to bed and went downstairs to the garage, where Emmett and Rose were waiting with Esme. Her little coupe was covered with a sheet. When Rose pulled it away, I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped from my lips.

"Yeah… So, it's totaled," Rose said.

The entire front end of the Volvo had been crinkled like paper. The glass had cracks from the impact, and the left tire was completely sticking out in the opposite direction of what it should have been. Dear God, how did Cole escape with minimal injuries? I was thanking the makers of Volvo for building such a safe car. Otherwise, my daughter would be dead.

"The front axle is in half and there is no way this car will start again without some major repairs to the engine. It would cost more than what it's worth to fix," she said.

"Call the scrapyard. See if they want anything from it. How is she alive?" I asked.

"Safe fucking car," Emmett scoffed.

"Can you tell how fast she was going?"

"I can pull the onboard computer, but I don't know how to find that out. You'll have to ask her," Rose said.

"So what's her punishment? Cole going over your knee?" Emmett said.

"Emmett!" Rose shrieked, hitting him over the head.

"Sorry. Now is not the time for jokes, I guess," he said.

"I don't know yet. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow," I said. "And no, Emmett, we do not believe in corporal punishment in this house."

We kept Cole home from school the next day — I stayed home as well to monitor her, just to be safe. I didn't want to talk to her with an audience, so Esme and I decided I would handle the punishment, while everyone else left for the day. While Emmett was in class, Rose went with Esme hunting. Emmett had failed his senior year like planned to keep an eye on Cole, so he couldn't miss school. It had already been a sunny season thus far, and I didn't want any more attention drawn toward him.

After signing the car over to the scrapyard people, I went back upstairs to find Cole on her laptop in bed. Without a word, I took the laptop from her and pulled the battery out. Punishment number one started now. I really didn't like doing this as she looked to me, wide-eyed and confused.

"You'll get this back in a month. Hand over your iPod, as well," I said, holding my hand out. She reached over to her end table and handed me the pink electronic.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Where's your license?"

"Purse. Hanging over there." She pointed it out for me.

I dug into her purse for her wallet. I opened it, and my heart broke a little. She had a picture of us in it. God, I really hated doing this! I pulled the ID out and put her wallet back. I took the plastic between my fingers and ripped it apart.

"In three months, you can get a new one. You have to pay for it by doing chores around the house. I am not taking this lightly, Cole."

"I know. I am really sorry, dad," she cried.

No, please, not tears! "Don't cry. You did this to yourself."

"I'm sorry."

"You know you could have been killed, right?"

"Yeah."

"I would have been paged to the ER and found my daughter, bloody, without a pulse on a gurney. You know that would have killed me, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I wasn't paying attention to my speed."

"Really? What were you paying attention to?"

She ducked her head. "Sarah texted me."

"You were texting!" I yelled.

I couldn't control my rage in that second. She knew that is dangerous. She heard me talk about it!

"I'm sorry!" she screamed.

"Do not raise your voice to me."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You are the most important thing in the world to me. And yesterday, because of your stupidity, you could have been killed. Do you know what that would have done to your mother and I? To this family?"

"I know, dad. I won't do it again. I swear. It was an accident. I shouldn't have done it. Please, please, forgive me!" she begged.

"Cole, please stop crying."

"Daddy, I am so sorry."

"Are you? Because I am not done with your punishment," I said. She looked at me in… fear? "No more volunteering at the hospital, no going out for anything but school, and certainly no driving."

"Volunteering? Dad, please, it's what I love!" she said.

"Voice," I warned.

Her lip quivered. "Daddy, no."

"You are not to step foot in that hospital for one month."

"I said I was sorry!" she screamed.

"Nicole Cullen! If you raise your voice to me one more time, you can forget about it permanently." She immediately ducked her head and cried. "Please, _tesoro_, don't cry." I sat down next her and rubbed her back.

"I really am sorry."

"I do forgive you."

"You do?"

"Of course. I'll always forgive you, Cole. I just need you to realize you can't do whatever you want and get away with it," I said. "We've never had to punish you before, and this is very hard on me. I love you more than anything and you have to know I'm only thinking of your safety. These punishments stand, though."

"No volunteering?"

"One month house arrest."

"It's fair."

"I believe it's more than fair. One month, and you get your stuff back. You can start volunteering again, too. In three months, if I decide you're ready, you can get a new license. But as I said, you have to pay for it. You mother will come up with chores for you. She'll set the pay."

"Okay."

"Cole, I don't like doing this. I get no joy out of it."

"I know you don't."

"Did you see what you did to that car?"

"Yeah, it's really bad."

"It's totaled. The scrapyard just hulled the useless hunk away."

"My car is gone!" she shrieked.

"Yes, and I don't know when or if you're getting another."

"That's not fair! Emmett has replaced his jeep three times for cracking the axel!"

"He didn't endanger his life. And lower your voice, young lady," I scolded.

"It's not like he could endanger his life!" she yelled again.

"Nicole Cullen! That is two months in this house!"

"Get out!"

"Excuse me?" I asked as she helplessly tried to push me away from her.

"Oh." She put her hand over her mouth as she realized what she said. Her eyes went even wider. "Please, don't go! Please, don't leave me?" she begged.

"I'm not leaving you," I said, holding her to my chest as she cried.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."

"The punishment stands, but Cole, I'm not leaving you. I would never. I thought we had gotten over this fear?"

"We did… I thought I did. You've never been mad at me before, though."

"Cole, no matter what you do, I'll always be here."

"I am really sorry," she repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time today.

"No more yelling at me, got it?" She nodded her head. "Good, now you need to rest. You go back to school Monday. You have the weekend to recuperate."

"Monday?"

"Yes, Monday."

"Okay. I love you, daddy, and I won't do it again. I swear."

"I love you too, _tesoro_." I held her a little closer and kissed her crown.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please Review…**


	59. 3rd Outtake

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Between Chapter 34 and 35. After the first outtake.

Summary: It's father's day. Cole and Carlisle's very first one to be exact.

**I hope you give this story a try and review to let me know if you like it. Like everyone says I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT! So no sue!**

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**Carlisle's POV**

It was June. We were moved into our new house and everything seemed to be returning to normal. I had finally taken my position as chief of trauma surgery, and I once again fell in love with medicine — not that I ever fell out of love with it. The staff was amazing, the equipment was up-to-date, and every day, I came home happy, because it seemed everything was just perfect — or at least as perfect as I could hope for. There were no vampires trying to kill my loved ones.

Cole did have nightmares, but not very often, it seemed. We'd lay with her when she had them, but other than that, she slept alone. Her nightmares were always about the fight — about us dying and her being left alone. She woke up just as one of the vampires lunged for her — screaming, mind you. Esme and I would get on either side of her and she usually fell back asleep quickly and stayed asleep.

Her hand surgery was just about two months ago. So far, everything was healing very well, but she was still in a cast. Her fingers were free and she can move them, but Dr. Reynolds wanted to keep her hand itself stabilized for at least two more weeks. Hopefully, by July she would be out of a fiber glass cast and into a brace. She was very excited for that, and I didn't blame her. She just wanted her hand back. Her pelvis was completely healed. She walks perfectly — no limp what so ever. I think the only way she could be happier, was if she weren't in the cast.

"Daddy," Cole said as she rested her head against my shoulder as we sat on the couch. Esme was with Rose in Seattle on a day trip and Emmett was on a solo hunting trip for a few hours, so it was just us.

"Yes, _tesoro_?"

"Did you know father's day is tomorrow?"

"I did. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I didn't know if you knew."

I chuckled. "I do tend to keep up with dates, baby girl."

"Did you want anything special?"

I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me. "No, sweetie, just to spend the day with you."

"Well, that's a given, seeing as how I'm not planning on going anywhere. Besides, I kinda just wanted to spend the day with you too," she told me. "I've never celebrated father's day before."

"We don't tend to do much for it. We used to go for a family hunt, but that's about it."

"Is that what you want to do? Because you can. I'll be ok here by myself."

"No, baby, I want to spend the day with you."

"Well then, do you mind if we went somewhere?"

"Anywhere you'd like."

"Maybe just lunch? You don't even have to pretend to eat. Oh, daddy, we can have a picnic in the park!"

I smiled to myself. That truthfully sounded like a dream come true. "Let's ask Alice if it'll be sunny, shall we?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, yes, yes."

I rang Alice, who was expecting my call — no surprise there. She said we'd have the perfect weather. The clouds would be thick, but the rain would hold off until late evening, making a lunch picnic perfect. I was truly excited. I couldn't wait to spend the day with my baby girl.

I've had dozens of father's day's with the rest of the kids, so this one would be just me and Cole's. We'd do whatever she wanted.

Esme and Rose were home by nine and Emmett by six, so he and Cole spent a few hours playing video games. They played the Wii because that was the only controller Cole could use. They had been playing it a lot lately — it made her happy to spend time with her big brother.

"How long have they been going at it?" Esme asked as she slid into my lap.

I set the book I had been reading down and pulled her face to mine. I pressed our lips together for a few glorious moments before releasing her.

"Emmett got home at six, so they started at six-oh-one," I said with a laugh.

"Almost three hours!"

I nodded and laughed a little more. "Yep."

"Nicole Cullen, I may have lost Emmett's brain to video games, but I refuse to lose yours. I think it's time to turn it off," she said.

Cole nodded as she bit her tongue and concentrated. "On sec."

"Do I need to pull the plug?" Esme asked, her small smirk told me she was mostly joking, but she did want Cole off the video game.

Three hours was a while to be playing. In fact, Cole had homework Esme had left her. They were trying to get her caught up in time to start her freshman year. I highly doubted there'd be any issues. Cole was a fast learner and tended to do extremely well with anything Esme asked her to do. She picked up the lessons Esme taught quickly and, usually, could get answers right.

"No!" Emmett shouted as he hit a few buttons and apparently won whatever game they were playing. He started waving the controller around and acted like a child with his glee.

"That wasn't fair! Mom distracted me!" Cole said.

"Face it, munchkin, you lost!" Emmett said with a laugh.

"Emmett, don't be a sore winner," Esme scolded.

"Ah, come on, mama. I was just playing around."

"Well, it's not nice to dance around like that," Esme said.

"I agree. You kinda made me feel bad," Cole said as her lips curled into a smirk.

"Bologna! You're smirking!" He laughed and pointed.

"Okay, children. Cole don't you have homework?" Esme asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, math."

"Well, if you get it done tonight, I'll give you a few days off. How does that sound?"

Cole smiled. "Fantastic! I'll go right now." She leaped off the couch, stumbled — thankfully Emmett caught her — and then scurried off to her room.

"Emmett, weren't you and Rose going somewhere tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, Rose has this hotel fantasy. Apparently, I'm supposed to walk into her room by accident, and then seduce her."

"We don't need details!"

"Just go, son, please?" Esme asked.

"Got it, you and papa bear want some alone time. Gonna give him his father's day present early, huh?" He laughed.

"Yes, now get the heck out of this house before I throw you out. Rose said she was at the Pine Lodge, in case you weren't listening when she told you," she said, waving her hands in a shooing motion.

Emmett quickly took his leave, but not before telling us to keep it quiet because otherwise, Cole might hear us. Esme about leaped from my lap to chase after him, but I held her down and stole another kiss.

"So, early father's day present, huh?" I asked with a grin.

"Oh, yes. It involves lace and these tiny panties I can't wait for you to tear off of me." She giggled loudly as I nibbled on her ear.

"Run," I whispered, letting her go.

Just as Cole had said she would, her homework was done and waiting for Esme on her desk. Esme and I took a break from our "time" together to say goodnight to her before we resumed our activities after Cole was sound asleep.

The next morning, Esme and I were busy in the kitchen. She was helping me come up with a good menu for the picnic. Because on my own, I wasn't having much luck.

"What's Cole's favorite thing in the world to eat?" Esme asked.

"Buffalo chicken strips."

"Exactly, so let's make those."

"For a picnic?"

"I have thermal bags to keep them warm. We'll have them done just before you two leave."

"And what else?"

"Well, she loves celery and carrots. We'll do those and make that ranch dip she likes so much."

I kissed her. "What would I do without you?"

"You'd be lost, _amore_."

"So unbelievably true."

Esme made a quick run to the store to get the chicken, since what we had was still frozen, and then once she got back, we began cooking. I made sure each strip was marinated in Cole's favorite buffalo sauce, and let those sit in the fridge for a half hour as she started making carrot cake cupcakes — Cole's favorite. Cole still hadn't woken up around ten, so while Esme breaded and began frying the few strips, I went upstairs to wake her up.

She was snuggled in contently with the blanket pulled up to her cheek, her casted hand was resting on top of a pillow, and I could barely hear her tiny snores — I could barely hear them they were just so soft.

As I looked down at my precious daughter whom was brought into our lives in less than ideal circumstances, I couldn't help but smile. She was so special and I felt blessed that for this father's day, I had yet another amazing child to spend it with. I was the luckiest person in the world. No doubt about it.

"_Tesoro_," I whispered as I ran my hand over her cheek. She turned her face deeper into my hand, but she was still completely asleep. "Baby girl, it's time to wake up."

"Hmm," she groaned.

"It's getting late in the morning. Don't you want to get up?"

Her eyes opened and I was met with the green orbs I loved so dearly. A little smile formed on her lips. "Happy father's day."

"Thank you, baby girl," I said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"We still going on a picnic?"

"Yep, mom's helping me cook. We're making your favorite."

She grinned lazily. "Chicken strips?"

"But of course," I said with a laugh.

"M'kay, when are we leaving?"

"In about an hour or so. Take your time getting ready. Is there anything else you wanted to do today?"

"Dad, it's your day. What do you want to do?"

"Honestly, sweetie, I want to do whatever would make you happy."

"How about we go the park and see where the day takes us?"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan."

She slid off the bed and kissed my cheek before heading to her bathroom. I went downstairs to give her privacy and found Esme putting the strips in the oil.

"What can I do?" I asked.

"Cut up the carrots and celery. After that's done you can mix the dip. Just pour that packet of seasoning over the sour cream and stir," she told me. "Happy father's day."

"Thank you, _cara_."

"Emmett and Rose did leave a card for you. And Alice and Jasper's came in the mail yesterday. They're in the drawer. Right there." She pointed for me.

I pulled the two cards out just as my cell phone started ringing. I had expected it to be Alice, but it was the hospital. My face fell and in my mind I began chanting 'no, no, no'.

"It's the hospital," I told Esme.

"They better not ask you to come in today. I swear, Carlisle, if you have to go, it will break Cole's heart."

"Well, hopefully I don't have to," I told her before placing the device against my ear. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen speaking."

"Hi, Dr. Cullen, this is Shelia. I'm a nurse on the 3rd floor," a woman said.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Your patient — Mrs. Taylor — wants to be discharged. She's actually demanding it and threatening to leave AMA."

AMA was against medical advice. Basically, the patient was refusing any more medical care.

"She needs to stay. I can't discharge her until her fever goes down and the post-op infection has cleared."

"I told her that, but she doesn't care. She's about to pull her IV's. I can't settle her down."

"What's her temp?"

"Last I checked, it was up to one-oh-two point six."

"Check it again, because I can almost guarantee you its spiked and she's getting agitated and disorientated. She's not in the right frame of mind to even make that choice, so call her next of kin or medical proxy and get them to sign off on sedating her if necessary. I can't come in there today."

"I know. I just… didn't know what to do. I'll do that. Do you want me to call you back once I get permission?"

"Yes, that's fine. Just do not let her leave. Call security if you have to, and restrain her. She's delusional because of the fever. Make sure the on-call doctor orders a fever reducer and new labs, please?"

"Got it. Bye, Dr. Cullen."

"You don't have to go, right?" Esme asked as I hung up the phone, and then put it back in my pocket.

I shook my head. "No. The only place I'm going today is on a picnic with our daughter," I said with a smile.

She smiled back. "Good, now open your cards and call your other children. Well, not Rose and Emmett. They may be a bit preoccupied." She laughed.

By the time I got off the phone with Alice and Jasper, I had the vegetables cut and dip mixed. Esme was just shaking the strips in sauce once more when Cole began descending the stairs.

"Um, if you don't want me to trip, I could use some help," Cole called out.

I rushed from the kitchen to the stairwell. She was trying to balance one small wrapped box on a larger one with her good hand and because of the cast, she couldn't grip the rail.

"Let me take them," I said as she handed me the boxes.

I wondered what was in them. I certainly didn't ask for anything and I hadn't heard her and Esme talking, so they must have done this quietly. I honestly couldn't think of what she may have gotten.

"Thanks. Don't you dare shake those to figure out what in them," she said with a laugh as she walked down the stairs behind me.

She looked adorable in the jean shorts, tank-top, and button-up shirt. And of course I told her so. She wore her hair down, which was something she hadn't been doing because it was too difficult with the cast, and even had a little flower clip holding her bangs to the side.

"Oh, don't you look so cute!" Esme gushed.

Cole's cheeks flushed red as she smiled. "Thanks, mom."

"You were able to do your hair! Oh, that's wonderful. It's so pretty down."

"Yeah, it took me a while to straighten. That's why the back's not really done. But I think it looks pretty good for a one-handed job."

"It looks wonderful. Now, the food is done, so let me get this packed up and you two can go," Esme said with a smile.

"So," I said as I sat down next to Cole while Esme was packing the food. "What did you get me?" I laughed.

She rolled her eyes. "Like I'm gonna tell you. You'll have to wait until we get to the park. I think you'll like it."

I laughed. "Oh, I know I will, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna tease."

"I think you'll love the gifts. Cole thought of them on her own," Esme said.

"But mom helped get them."

"Well, now I am just excited to open my gifts!" I grinned.

"Okay, everything is all packed up. You two are good to go," Esme said.

"Mom, are you sure you don't wanna come to?" Cole asked.

"No, honey, this is you and your father's day to spend together. I want you two to have loads of fun, okay?"

Cole nodded. "We will."

The park was just in town, so it didn't take long to get there. I carried the basket with a blanket and Cole's gifts on top as Cole carried a bag with whatever couldn't fit in the picnic basket. We found the perfect spot under a tree and I laid the blanket down for her to sit.

The park wasn't too crowded, but there were a few people scattered about. No one close enough to bother us, though. That I made sure of. As I laid everything out, Cole put the gifts in her lap with a grin. Apparently, she wanted to do that first.

"Happy father's day," she told me.

"Thank you, _tesoro_. Now, are you sure you don't want to eat first?"

"Nope."

She handed me the small box first, which was wrapped in metallic blue paper and had a silver ribbon and bow on top.

"All right, then, let's see what we have here. I don't even think I could guess if I wanted to."

"Mom and I kept this really quiet. 'Cause I wanted to surprise you. I hope you like it. It's very you, if you ask me."

I pulled off the ribbon first then slid my finger between the seam of the paper. Underneath was just a white box. I pulled the lid off as Cole grinned. Inside was a scrub cap. It was black with yellow smiley faces on it.

"That way when people see you, even though they're scared, they can smile," she told me.

"I love it, baby girl. It's perfect."

She took it from me and flipped it inside out. Near the back in yellow thread was writing. "I had it specially made for you."

The inside said "I love you Daddy". I couldn't help but grin. It was perfect. "Thank you, baby girl. Every time I wear it, I'll think of you. It'll be my new lucky cap."

"Well, you don't need it to be lucky necessarily, because you're so good, but hopefully it's not unlucky."

"It won't be." I leaned over and wrapped her in my arms. "Thank you, _tesoro_. This is an absolutely perfect gift. I love it."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. Mom helped me find a place to have it personalized and we ordered it just for you. I thought about getting you a baseball one, but I figured the smiley faces would make people smile."

"Again, it's perfect. And I'm sure it will make people smile."

Next she handed me the bigger box. "With a new office, I figured you'd need things to put in it to make it your own. I hope you like it."

I opened the bigger box the same as the first. This one was filled with little trinkets. A little doctor statue that looked remarkably like me, a few picture frames with photos of everyone in the family, and a small stuffed animal that had a heart in its arms that said 'I love you Daddy'.

"Cole, these are perfect," I said with a smile.

"Mom found someone to custom make the statue. We gave them a picture of you. Move its head — it bobbles." She laughed.

I moved the oversized head back and forth. It did bobble. "That's going on my desk."

She grinned. "The pictures and statue were the main gift, but I couldn't help myself when I saw the bear."

"Bookshelf behind my desk."

"Now anyone that goes into your office will be greeted with fun things. You have such a serious job. I thought those, along with the cap, will help lighten the mood."

"That's a great idea, _tesoro_. You know you have the kindest heart in the world. These gifts were for me, but you thought of others when you got them. They are perfect, baby girl."

"One more thing," she said, handing me a card that she had tucked in the picnic basket. I saw her put it in there earlier, but I figured it was her last surprise, so I didn't say anything.

"It's another letter. I try to express my feelings to you, but sometimes it's just easier to write them down. Please, read it."

I opened the envelope and pulled the father's day card out. Inside the card was a letter — hand written. "Daddy," I read. "This father's day means so much to me because I finally have a father who deserves to be celebrated. I love you more than anything in the world. You are my hero." I smiled so big. "I thought about getting you one of those "best dad in the world" mugs or t-shirt, but you don't drink and I think that t-shirt would look ridiculous on you because, as everyone knows, you'd never flaunt how amazing you are.

"I can't begin to express my gratitude and love for you. There are no words, except "thank you" and "I love you". I'm sure I could write more words, but the fact is, those ones express my feelings best. Happy father's day to the best freaking dad in the world," I read as I laughed. She had such an elegant way with words sometimes. "With all my love — and I mean _all _my love — your daughter, Nicole Cullen."

"It's not very long. I had more written, but honestly, the words just weren't me," she said.

"Oh, baby girl, once again this is perfect. Come here," I said, holding my arms out.

She got up on her knees and waddled towards me. I pulled her into my arms and against my chest as I kissed her cheek over and over. This little girl was my world now. And the fact that she thought was the best "freaking" dad in the world had me even happier. I didn't even think that was possible.

"I love you so much," I told her.

"I love you, daddy."

We pulled back and I put my hand on her cheek after brushing at strand of hair away. "Do you know how precious you are to me?"

She blushed and smiled shyly as she nodded. "Happy father's day."

"Thank you. This is by far my favorite father's day I've ever had."

"It's not even over yet."

I sat contently as I watched Cole eat. Her face was pure joy when as she ate up four strips and most of the celery and a few carrots. She was a happy girl. We talked a little as she ate. I asked her how she felt about what Esme was teaching her. She felt good and said she thought she would be ready to start school in the fall. I then asked her how her hand felt.

"It's fine," she told me. I knew those words coming from her usually meant the opposite.

"Fine?"

She rolled her eyes. "I think I'm just ready to get this cast off and start moving my hand."

"You've been wiggling you fingers like Dr. Reynolds told you to, right?"

"Yes, dad."

"Any pain when you do that?"

"Nope."

"Good. You'll be in a brace for a little while, but hopefully by the time school starts, you'll be good as new."

"Dr. Reynolds said I'm going to need another surgery eventually. I can put that off for a while, right?"

"As long as you'd like. Truthfully, you don't have to have the plates removed, but it is safer and more comfortable in the long run."

"I'll get full range of motion back someday, right?"

"Hopefully. You start physical therapy once the cast comes off. But until the plates are removed, you won't have full range of motion."

"And strength?"

"It'll be weak for a while, but with time it should get back to normal."

"See, this is why it's awesome having a doctor for a father. I can ask you anything." She smiled

"I do have quite a bit of knowledge."

"You know, I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

"Why's that?"

"Because no one else has a dad as great as you. I don't care that much that it took fourteen years to get you because in the end, I still got you."

"I wish we had those fourteen years," I sighed with a sad smile.

"I think if you would have taught me to ride a bike, I wouldn't have been able to move with the padding you'd have put me in." She laughed.

I smiled. "I would have never let go."

"You would have," she said with a smirk. "Mom would have made you." She laughed.

"Oh, she would have."

"And you would have come up with some horror story as to why you shouldn't. I'd break my neck, right?"

I laughed. "With your coordination that would have been a distinct possibility."

She picked up a carrot and threw it at me. "That's not nice," she said. "I'm working on going a day without tripping."

"I can't believe you threw a carrot at me!"

"You deserved it," she said, giggling.

I nodded. "Maybe I did."

"I love you, dad."

"I love you too, baby girl. Thank you for making this the best father's day ever. Thank you for letting me love you so dearly."

"Thanks for not going to the hospital today."

I cocked my head. "You heard that?"

She nodded. "I thought you might go."

"I wasn't going to leave you on this day of all days. Not when we had this planned. You come first, _tesoro_. Forever and always."

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!

**Please review…**


	60. 4th Outtake

**A/N: **This outtake is dedicated to GCCULLEN. It's her birthday present from me! I really hope she likes it.

**Bye the way: **I reposted the sequel, same name, but it's not the same story. Please go check it out and give it some love.

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Cole's Junior year in high school. After her car accident.

Summary: High school is difficult for everyone, but one day, it gets even worse for Cole when someone decides to show their cruel streak. She's hurt and upset. Carlisle tries his hardest to make everything better for his little girl.

**By the way, in case you didn't know I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT!**

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**Cole's POV**

I still didn't have a car. It was an appropriate punishment, but now it was getting a little annoying. It was January now, just over four months since I lost my car. I got my volunteering privileges back, my phone, laptop, everything I lost – except my car and license. Not driving wasn't so bad. It wasn't like I had places to go and people to see. No, the worst part was losing that trust and still not having it back. Dad didn't trust me to drive and that fact hurt.

"You sure you're gonna be good tomorrow, Coley?" Emmett asked as I sat at the kitchen bar doing my homework.

Emmett and Rose were going out of town for a few days. It was their anniversary and they wanted to spend it alone, somewhere remote. Rose graduated last year, but Emmett failed so he could stay with me for another year. So tomorrow, I'd be at school alone. It wasn't very often I was alone at school. On sunny days, I'd usually miss as well – for appearances. Of course there were some days I just couldn't miss. Technically, tomorrow I could, but I didn't want to. It wasn't that I loved school because in all honesty, I didn't. I loved learning, but school held such a social thing. And social things I wasn't good at. I had a few friends. Sarah was my closest, but even we weren't _that _close. We'd see each other outside of school every one in a while, but not often, and certainly not lately.

"Yeah, Em. I'll be fine," I told him.

"Cool. If anyone messes with you, I'll get 'em back on Monday." He smirked and flexed his arm. I laughed. "I'm always up for some ass kicking."

"Emmett," mom warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, ass is a bad word and momma doesn't like bad words," Emmett said.

"You just said it again," I told him.

"He did," mom said. "And that means he owes me a chore."

Emmett groaned. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hmm," mom said. "Let me think about it. I'll have something for you by the time you and Rose get back."

"And we need to get going," Rose said, coming into the room.

"You're not waiting for your father to get home?" mom asked.

"He was supposed to be home at three. It's almost six now, so we need to leave," Rose said.

"He was held up in surgery. A patient needed to be taken back to the operating room, but he should be home soon," mom said.

"He hasn't left the hospital yet," I said. "He texts me when he does."

"Damn, well I guess we can wait. Right, Rose?" Emmett asked.

"Fine, but if he's not here in a half hour, we need to go," she said.

Rose wasn't really being mean; she just wanted to go. She had been so excited for their trip. It was all she could talk about for weeks. She and Emmett were going down to Oregon, on the coast. They had rented a small secluded house to spend the weekend in.

Ten minutes later, I got the text from dad that he was on his way home. Another fifteen minutes, and he was walking into the house. He was still in his scrubs. He pulled his coat off and kissed mom first, and then came over to me.

"How was your day, _tesoro_?" he asked, hugging me.

"Good," I said as he kissed my forehead and sat down beside me. "How was yours? How is the patient?"

"Good day for the most part. The patient is doing better now. We have him stabilized and back in the ICU. Hopefully, we won't have to take him back to the OR, but he's very sick, so it's a possibility. How's the homework coming?"

"Almost done." I smiled. "I think Rose and Em are ready to go."

"We are," Rose said. "But we waited to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry for holding you up," dad said, standing up.

Everyone said goodbye and they left – Rose with a huge smile on her face. Soon after they left, I finished my homework and mom finished my dinner. It was a pasta dish, and so very yummy. As I ate, dad did paperwork and mom just watched. We spoke a little about our day and what we planned to do tomorrow.

"What time is the banquet, Carlisle?" mom asked.

"It starts at eight. So we should leave around seven-thirty or so," he told her.

The hospital was having their annual fundraising banquet on Saturday. Mom and dad were only going to give their donation as usual. I've never been and I'm not going this year either. Dad asked me to come, but I really wasn't interested in sitting at a table listening to boring speeches.

"Sweetie," mom said. "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"You can,

"You can, _tesoro_, if you'd like," dad said.

"No, I'm good. You two have fun. I'll probably snuggle into the sofa and watch movies all evening. You can home to find me in a candy induced coma." I laughed.

Dad smirked. "Should I make sure I have insulin in my bag?"

"Nah, my pancreas works pretty well."

He laughed. "That it does, but still… not too much sugar."

I rolled my eyes. It was such a "dad" thing to say, still, I loved how he was like that. He's so concerned for my safety, he feels the need to warn me about sugar. I'm seventeen for crying out loud. "No worries, dad."

Mom dropped me off at school the next morning since Emmett wasn't here. That was one thing that sucked about not having a car; my mom takes me to school sometimes. I couldn't help but be a little bored during a few classes. The semester was almost over, midterms were next week, so it was review week. I study non-stop all year, so none of this stuff was new to me. I actually paid attention during class – unlike others, who were now cramming.

Sarah was out sick today, so I didn't have anyone to talk to during free period. I sat in our usual spot and opened a book I had taken from dad's study. I always kept a good book handy, just in case.

"So… Cole, right?" Miranda asked.

Miranda didn't like me very much. She was what you'd call a "popular" girl. Everyone wanted to be called her friend, but truthfully hated her behind her back. She was a bitch, plain and simple. Pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside. Her talking to me wasn't good.

"Yeah," I said, looking up from my book as she and a few of her clique sat down around me. Fudge, I wish Mr. Harrison was actually in the classroom for once.

"I saw your dad yesterday," she started. "Well, your adoptive father, I guess. You're adopted, right?"

"Everyone knows that."

"It got me thinking… Why would he want you?" She and her friends laughed. "You're a klutz and bookworm. Not to mention the fact that you hardly fit into your family. You really are like the red-headed stepchild no one actually wanted."

"Leave me alone, Miranda."

Her words hurt. I couldn't lie and say I didn't feel a sting of tears behind my eyes. I knew I didn't fit into my family. I wasn't that pretty, I mean, I didn't think I was ugly, but I certainly wasn't "Cullen" worthy. Then again, I wasn't a vampire.

"Well, if your real parents didn't want you, why do the Cullen's? What did happen to your real parents anyway?" she asked, evil smirk on her face.

"The Cullen's are the only parents I've ever known. Just stop it, okay? You don't have to be mean to me. I didn't do anything to you."

"I bet they realized pretty quickly that you were a sad excuse for a child. I don't blame them for not wanting you. If they saw you now, I bed they'd be pretty thankful they got rid of you when they could." She laughed again and I wanted to cry. "You shouldn't be a Cullen. They must have just felt sorry for you."

"Leave me alone." My voice broke as tears filled my eyes and overflowed onto my cheeks.

"Aww, she's crying, Mandi," another girl said, laughing. "You made poor little Cole cry."

I ran from my seat and out of the classroom. Tears kept falling, blurring my vision. My phone was in my locker, since I accidently left it in my purse this morning. I wanted to go downstairs to my locker and get my phone to call dad. I wanted him to come get me. I know I'm seventeen, but what she said really hurt. So I ran down the concrete stairs. My foot caught on the third to last step and I started to fall. My hands went out in front of me to catch myself as the floor came closer. My left hand touched the floor first, and my wrist was bent back really far. I felt the crack in my wrist and screamed as the rest of my body landed with a thump on the floor.

It hurt… so much. The pain radiated from my finger tips to my elbow. I cradled my limp wrist to my chest and cried more.

"Oh dear, Cole!" Ms. Grady said, coming out to the hall from the main office. She ran to my side. "Are you okay, honey?"

"No," I whimpered. "I think I broke my wrist." I cried.

"All right, is anything else hurt? Did you hit your head?"

I shook my head no. "I caught myself with my hands. This really hurts."

"I imagine it does. I'm going to grab the nurse, okay? Just stay here."

She hurried away, and then came back with the school nurse. The nurse looked at my wrist for a moment – not touching, just looking – and decided I needed to go the doctor. Ms. Grady helped me up and we went into the office. The nurse gave me ice for my wrist as Ms. Grady called mom. But mom didn't answer. I knew she probably wouldn't. She planned to go hunting while I was at school, and then pick me up once school let out.

"My dad might not answer his phone if he's in surgery, and my mom is probably out of cell range. She was going to a small antique shop in the middle of nowhere," I said.

"Should I call the hospital then?" she asked.

"Maybe try his cell first. I don't wanna scare him."

She called his cell phone, and by some miracle, he answered. Ms. Grady explained that I had fallen and thought I broke my wrist. She told him the nurse suggested I go to the doctor and that someone needed to come get me right away. I obviously couldn't hear his reaction, but from the way she was trying to calm him down, I assumed he was worried – which wasn't surprising.

I honestly believed he must have run out of the hospital and sped over one-hundred miles an hour all the way to the school, because he got there in minutes. He acted out of breath, huffing and puffing as he ran into the office. He wore scrubs and had a bag in his left hand. I guessed he got that from his trunk.

"Cole," he sighed, kneeling down in front of me.

"It hurts," I said, still crying.

"Okay, okay, it's going to be all right. May I have a look?"

I nodded and gave him my already swollen wrist. He tried to be gentle, but it still hurt as he held it to examine it. I yelped a little when he touched it a certain way. He told me he was sorry and kept inspecting.

He sighed. "It's probably fractured. We'll need to go to the ER and get an x-ray. First, though, I want to stabilize it. All right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll try to be gentle."

He pulled compression wraps out of his bag – two of them. He set one on the chair next to me and open the first one. He took my wrist and set it on my knee. He, as carefully as he could, wrapped it around my wrist to keep it from bending. It hurt and tears fell. He whispered he loved me and he was sorry as I wiped them away.

"All done," he told me. "I'll be taking her to the ER, Ms. Grady."

"Of course, I just need you to sign here," Ms. Grady said, pushing the clip board closer to his side of the counter.

Dad signed me out and we started to leave. Then I remembered my reason for going to my locker in the first place. My phone and purse.

"I need to get my purse. It's in my locker," I told him.

"All right. Which way?"

We headed down the hall to my locker as the bell rang. I told him the combination and he grabbed my purse out. Of course it was just my luck that Miranda saw us. She headed over with that evil smirk.

"Aww, Cole, what happened?" she asked, trying to sound sincere.

"Leave me alone," I said.

"Cole?" dad asked, eyebrows cocked. I had sounded really rude.

"Let's go," I said trying to turn away.

"I'll see you Monday, Cole. I really wanted to hear what you had to say. You know, before you ran out crying," she said.

"Cole?" dad asked again.

I hurried and walked past him. He followed quickly behind me as more tears filled my eyes.

"Cole, why were you crying?" dad asked as we got outside to his car. He opened my door for me.

"I wasn't."

I slid in and he shut it, and then went around to his side. Before he started the car, he asked again.

"It's nothing, dad. Just leave it alone. Miranda is a bitch."

"Well, that's not very nice to say. She didn't seem so bad to me."

"Well, she is. She's a horrible person, and I don't wanna talk about it. Can we just go to the ER? Please?"

"You _want _to go to the ER? As a patient? What happened, baby?"

"Nothing, just drop it. My wrist really hurts and I don't wanna talk, okay?"

"All right, but this isn't over. We'll talk later."

We got to the ER and dad took me right back after talking to the receptionist. He lead me to an exam room and had me sit on the gurney before he left for a few minutes. When he came back, Dr. Robins and Linda were with him.

"You know I love seeing you, sweetie," Linda said. "But not on our gurneys! What happened?" she asked as she wrapped the hospital bracelet with my name on it around my good wrist.

"I fell down the stairs at school."

"Did you hit your head? Lose consciousness?" Dr. Robins asked, looking back at me as he washed his hands.

"No. I landed on my hands. The left one to be exact."

"All right then, let's have a quick look before getting an x-ray."

He gently unwrapped the bandage and looked over my now even more swollen and bruised wrist. I winced as he prodded and he apologized.

"It looks like it might be fractured. We'll get a quick x-ray. Anything else hurt? Knees, torso, anything?" he asked.

"No, just the wrist."

"Good. I think x-ray is open, or at least will be shorty, so Linda is going to take you down. How about something for the pain first?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll go grab it and get you booked for the x-ray."

Once Dr. Robins left, Linda put a new cold pack on my wrist for the time-being. It didn't take long for Dr. Robins to come back with the pain pill and say x-ray was ready. Linda walked me down and I had a few pictures taken quickly. I was back in the exam room with dad in all of ten minutes. They certainly didn't waste time when it came to me. Then again, the ER did look pretty empty. Still, I guess I was somewhat of a VIP patient, what with all my mishaps and dad being such an important staff member.

"Scaphoid hairline fracture," Dr. Robins announced, coming back in holding the films. He hung them on the light board for dad to see.

"That might have been easy to miss," dad commented.

"It's not too bad," Dr. Robins said. "But it's visible."

"Cast for two weeks then new set of films?" dad asked.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you want me to get someone from ortho down here, or can I cast it?"

"You can do it; I trust you. I'll make a follow up appointment with the surgeon who did her hand a few years ago."

"Wonderful," I sneered.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Linda said. "But the good news is it's not very bad. Now, I'm guessing you have a color preference?"

"Pink," dad said, smiling. "I know my daughter."

"Yeah, I'd prefer pink."

"That we can do," Dr. Robins said. "Linda, do you mind?"

"Of course not. I'll be right back."

Dr. Robins sat down on his stool and started marking in my chart. He and dad talked a little before turning to me.

"So how's school?" he asked.

"Good. Midterms start next week."

"Feeling good about them?"

"Yeah. Homework all week's been review work, so that's been nice."

"I bet. Don't you get a few days off before the next semester starts?"

"Yeah, a four day weekend in which I plan on doing nothing. And thanks to this, I have an excuse to veg out on the couch," I said. "Crap!"

"What's wrong?" dad asked.

"How am I gonna write? I'm a lefty, remember?"

"How could I forget such a thing?" he asked. "We'll figure something out. Maybe you can type or dictate to someone. I'm sure the school will accommodate."

"I'll write you a note, Cole," Dr. Robins said. "They can't fault you for a broken wrist."

Once Linda got back, Dr. Robins started casting. The pain pill had already started working, so it didn't hurt that bad. That's not saying it didn't hurt, because it did. Dad held my hand as he worked and wiped the few stray tears I couldn't hold back. When Dr. Robins finished, my arm was in a cast from my knuckles to just below my elbow, including my thumb. I was given a sling and dad was given my prescription for pain killers. Thankfully, dad was able to get the rest of the afternoon off to take me home and stay with me.

After we got home, dad left a message for mom telling her not to pick me up and to call as soon as she could. He didn't want to tell her I'd broken my wrist in a voicemail, because then she'd just freak out before he had a chance to explain that it wasn't that bad.

Dad set me up on the couch with ice and tons of pillows after I had changed into sweatpants and a hoodie. Once I was settled, he lifted my feet up and sat down with them in his lap.

"Do you need anything else, _tesoro_?" he asked.

"No, I'm good. The pain pills are making me a little drowsy, but I'm not sure I can sleep."

"Okay, well since you're up, let's talk."

_Crap,_ I thought. I should have said I was super tired and needed to sleep.

"What about?" I asked, pretending I didn't know what he was about to ask me.

"What happened at school today? With that girl?"

"Nothing, dad. Don't worry about it."

"You know that's not going to happen. What did she do to you? You've never called someone that name before, at least not to me."

"She's just a horrible person who found my weakness. She said something mean in front of people."

He took my hand in his and looked to me apologetically. "I'm so sorry. Sometimes… people can be cruel. What did she say?"

I wiped at my freshly fallen tears. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," he said. "Whatever she said made you cry and in turn caused you to fall down a flight of stairs. You could have been seriously injured. In fact, I'd say you were. A fractured wrist isn't easy to come by…" He seemed to ponder his next words carefully. "Cole, did you fall down the stairs?"

"What?" I asked. "What do you mean? You think I… did this to myself to get out of school and away from her?"

"No!" He shook his head. He looked shocked that I'd come to that assumption. "That's not what I meant. I mean, you just _fell_, right? Because if you didn't _fall_, I need to know."

I probably looked dumbfounded. I didn't understand what he was asking… That was until I actually thought about it. "No! Dad, I tripped. She didn't push me down the stairs. Trust me, if she had done that… I'd tell you. She's just cruel with her words. I don't think she's capable of physically hurting someone."

"Okay, I believe you. I just had to be sure. Still, her words hurt you very badly. And I'd like you to tell me what they were."

I leaned my head back against the cushion. "Can't you just understand they weren't nice? I really don't understand why you need to know exactly what she said."

"Because whatever she said hurt you. And I can't help if I don't know what hurt."

I teared up more. "She was really mean."

He caressed the top of my hand. "I know, baby girl. What did she say?"

"She said… I didn't belong with you guys. I wasn't pretty and I just didn't fit. She said my birthparents didn't want me, and she didn't understand why you guys did. See? I feel childish for letting those comments hurt."

He shook his head. "It's not childish at all. What she said was cruel and _very _untrue. You know that, right?"

I nodded. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I did belong with my family. "I belong with you guys, but my birthparents didn't want me. And that really hurt."

"_Tesoro_, I don't know why you were given up, but no one has ever made a worse mistake. Letting you go… insanely stupid of them. You're amazing and so very special. You're beautiful and brilliant. You'll make an excellent doctor one day. And though I wish they hadn't hurt you by letting you go, I'm eternally grateful to your birthparents. For how lonely would our lives be without you?"

I gave him a half-smile and rolled my eyes. "I do make everything a little more exciting."

He laughed. "Our lives are so much more thrilling with you. I honestly believe I'll be the first vampire to die of a heart attack with how much you cause me to worry. Either that, or I'll get grey hair."

"First off, your heart has to be beating to have a heart attack. Secondly, I really don't want you to go grey. That'd make me sad." I laughed.

He ran his hand through his hair. "I think your mother would feel the same way."

I smiled and then got serious once more. "She's not gonna stop. You heard her in the hallway."

"Oh, don't worry about her, darling. I'll call the school first thing Monday morning and get her parents involved. The school has a zero tolerance for bullying."

I groaned. "That's just gonna make it worse. I'll be _that _kid. The one that told daddy she was being picked on. Dad, I'm seventeen. I shouldn't be affected by these things anymore."

"_Tesoro_, your age doesn't matter. Being bullied can happen at any age, and you're still in high school. And that girl is very immature by doing that."

"You know, she started it by saying she saw you yesterday. No one at school really sees you very much. Mom, yeah cause she does all the fundraisers, but no one sees you."

"She did look familiar. I think she was in the hospital yesterday…" He paused for a moment. "Yes, she was. I saw her in the hallway as I went down to the ER to help out. I'm not sure why she was there. She wasn't hurt or ill."

"Then how did she know who you were?"

"My name was called out – I replied. I just don't get why she started on you because of seeing me."

"She's jealous. No one has such an awesome dad. Mine's a trauma surgeon, well respected, and young enough to be cool." I smiled.

"You just called me cool. I shall use that against you one day." He laughed.

"Great." I rolled my eyes, smirking. "What have I done?"

"How does your wrist feel?" he asked.

"It's starting to hurt more."

"Well," he said, looking at his watch. "It's close enough to when your due for another pain pill. I'll be right back with a glass of water."

I lifted my feet up so he could stand. He wasn't gone but a minute, and returned with a glass of water in one hand and pain pill in the other. I downed the water and pill, and then handed him the glass back. He set it on the end table on his side and settled back onto the couch with my feet in his lap.

"Get some rest, sweetie."

I tried to get a little more comfortable on the couch and closed my eyes. My arm rested on a pillow on top of my stomach. Dad spread an extra blanket over me and pulled it up to my chin as I nodded off to sleep.

"_No one wants you," a voice said in the darkness._

"_Yes they do!" I yelled, curled into a ball on the hard floor._

"_No, they don't. The Cullen's left you here – in this room. They were tired of dealing with your problems. You'd think after three years, you'd get over your shit," the unknown voice said._

"_They… they didn't leave me. You're lying. Where am I?" I yelled, crying._

"_Right back where you belong…" _

_The light flipped on to reveal a group home I once lived in. I sobbed more. They wouldn't send me back here. My family loves me… They wouldn't get rid of me._

"_No!" I screamed. "You're lying!"_

**Carlisle's POV**

"No!" Cole screamed, thrashing around on the couch. "You're lying!"

I kneeled down beside her as she laid on the couch. I took her right hand in one of mine, and caressed her cheek with my other hand. "Wake up, baby girl," I cooed. She screamed again. "Wake up!" I said, louder.

"No!" She cried.

I wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Cole, wake up!" I demanded, using both hands to hold her face.

Her eyes popped open as she panted. "It was a dream," she whispered.

I nodded. "Only a dream. I'm here with you. You're okay," I told her.

"I know." She nodded. "I just hate those kinds of dreams."

I wiped her cheeks and caressed her face. "I know you do. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"I'm going to sit you up," I warned her.

I sat her up and settled into the couch with her on my lap. She dug her wet face into my chest as I readjusted the pillow that her arm was resting on. I did a silent check of her fingertips. Making sure they still looked normal and the cast wasn't cutting off blood flow. She didn't notice my inspection.

"What was the dream about?" I asked, kissing her forehead.

"Just… stupid insecurities coming out once more."

"Which insecurities?"

"Yeah, cause we both know I have so many," she scoffed.

"I'm sorry. That didn't come out right."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. The one about you guys leaving me. All because of stupid Miranda."

"I'm very sorry, baby. But you know it your heart we'd never leave you. You're just as much a part of this family as everyone else. Human or vampire, you're our child."

"You know, she called me the "Red-headed stepchild no one wanted"? That one hurt."

"First off, I honestly am beginning to severely dislike this girl. I feel her parents need a little talking to if they let their child say such things. It's not right, and there is no reason for it. Secondly, I think red-heads are beautiful." I smiled. "I loved your hair when it was lighter, and it's just as pretty since it's darkened up."

"I highly doubt that's what she was talking about, dad." She rolled her eyes. "But thank you. I like my hair too."

"You're a very beautiful young woman, and you should never let someone tell you otherwise. Them saying such things, makes them ugly – not you."

"Once again, you have to say that. You're my dad. Just like Jasper calls me "the prettiest peach", you and mom say I'm beautiful."

"We'd never lie to you."

She shrugged. "Sure you would. For my protection, you'd lie. You have before."

I sighed. We'd been over this many of times. She was right, I did lie to her, but only for her protection. And I had gotten better about it. "I've apologized for that."

She smiled. "I know you have. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"I'm not lying about you being beautiful."

She blushed. "Thanks, dad."

Cole was out cold again by the time Esme got home. If there was one thing my daughter was, it was a lightweight when it came to medications. The lowest dose possible was normally perfect for her. I was still in awe that she had managed to stay awake at the hospital and after we had arrived home earlier.

"I can't believe that girl!" Esme seethed, while pulling out ingredients for Cole's dinner. She was upset, to say the least.

"I called the school and asked for a conference with her parents on Monday. They said they'd give them a call, and the girl will be dealt with accordingly," I told her.

"Still. That little… snot had no right! In a way, she caused our daughter bodily harm, Carlisle!"

"I know that, _amore_." I rubbed her arms to calm her down. "We'll deal with it. It will not happen again."

"It better not. Or that child will have me to deal with."

I chuckled softly and kissed her neck. "I love it when you get all mama bear-ish."

I heard her scoff. "Not now, Carlisle. I'm making dinner."

"Okay." I laughed. "Although, that wasn't what I was necessarily going for. But later… I'm not opposed." I smirked.

She turned around to face me. She hit me on the shoulder with the french bread. "You're horrible." She smirked.

"Beating me with Cole's dinner? I'm a little hurt."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk. "This is only part of her dinner. Watch it if you don't want me to throw the tomatoes at you."

"I'm shaking." I laughed.

After checking on Cole – who was still sounds asleep, snoring lightly – I went back into the kitchen to help Esme cook. She was cutting the tomatoes for the spaghetti sauce.

"You know, that girl told Cole she wasn't pretty enough to be part of our family." I said.

She pushed the knife down so hard it split the cutting bored and stuck into the counter. "She had no right!" she said, pulling the knife out. "Cole is beautiful. Gorgeous! I dare say there isn't a prettier young lady in that school. In this world!"

"I agree. I just wish she'd see herself the way we do," I said. "By the way, I'll get a new counter top as soon as I can."

"Thank you. I didn't mean to do that." She pulled a new cutting board from the drawer and continued with the tomatoes. "Carlisle?" she asked.

"Yes, darling?"

"I want you to take Cole with you to that banquet tomorrow night. Let her get dressed up, so she can see how beautiful she really is. Please?"

"I don't think she wants to go, but I'll ask her. We only have two tickets, though. And now it's sold out."

"I can stay home. It can be a father/daughter thing." She looked back and smiled. "I'll take her tomorrow to get her hair done and find a beautiful dress in Seattle. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan, as long as she wants to go. Her wrist may be hurting her."

She smiled and nodded her head. "Ask her once she wakes up. I really want her to go and have fun. She deserves it."

Cole woke up just before her dinner was ready. We decided to let her eat on the couch. She had a little difficulty eating with her right hand, but managed to figure it out fairly quickly.

"How's your wrist feeling?" I asked.

"Achy, but not too bad. This thumb thing is gonna be annoying," she told me.

I nodded. "I'm sure it will be. I called Dr. Reynolds office. You have an appointment in two weeks for new x-rays and cast. Hopefully all heals well and surgery isn't needed."

Her head shot up. "Surgery? What!"

"Well, the scaphoid can sometimes be difficult to heal properly because of its lack of blood flow to part of it. It's only a small possibility, but the bone may need to be put together with a plate. Very small possibility. I think yours should heal just fine."

"It better. No more metal plates are being put in my body to hold things together. And certainly not in my hands. I'll need those to work properly one day."

"I highly doubt you'll need surgery. I shouldn't have even brought it up."

"Cole," Esme said, smiling. "Your father and I have come up with an idea."

Cole looked a little suspicious. "Okay," she said, slowly.

"I'm not going to the banquet tomorrow night," Esme said. "I'd appreciate it if you'd accompany your father. Would you be up to that?"

"Why aren't you going?"

"I've been to so many of those functions. I think it'd be a good idea if you went for once."

"But… I don't have dress. Oh, and my wrist is currently in a cast. I don't wanna go."

"Please? You might have fun," I said.

"No, I won't," Cole said.

"You get to dress up and look so beautiful! I promise, you'll love it," Esme said.

"So that's what this is about? I know I'm pretty. I don't need to dress up to prove that to myself."

"No, but it'll feel really good." Esme tried to convince her.

I could see Cole wavering, so I decided to try and seal the deal with a little guilt. "Please, _tesoro_? I'd very much enjoy your company. I'd really like to show my daughter off. I don't get to very often."

She rolled her eyes. "Hospital wise, everyone knows me."

"Yes, but, I want to take you. Please?"

"Dad," she whined.

"Pretty please?" I smiled.

She huffed. "Fine… But! If I want to leave early, you have to let me."

"Of course. We just have to stay long enough to present our donation."

"We?" she asked.

"Yes, we. The donation is from The Cullen Family, which means I'd like it if you presented it with me. I get nervous up on stage by myself." I smirked.

"Liar!"

I laughed. "I was kidding," I said. "So, you'll go?"

"I don't have a dress that nice."

"We'll go to Seattle tomorrow morning!" Esme said. "We'll get you a dress and get your hair and nails done!"

"No painted nails," I said. "We have to be able to see the nail beds."

"Oh, well, still get your hair done!" Esme smiled.

Esme and Cole left just after eight o'clock the next morning. Cole was in some pain, but she decided to just take over-the-counter pain medication instead of the narcotic. I sent the bottle with Esme anyway, just in case. I was worried Cole would be in a little too much pain to go to the banquet, but she seemed to be handling the pain well. She still wanted to go the next morning, so I figured we'd play it by ear.

I spent the day hunting. I hadn't gone in a while, so it was time. After that was done, I did paperwork and dictated my notes to pass the time. Esme and Cole arrived home at six, with a yell saying not to come out of my study. Apparently, Cole's attire was to be a surprise. I decided it was time to get ready, so I snuck out of my study and upstairs to mine and Esme's room. She had my tuxedo hanging on the door. It was a standard black one, nothing too fancy. But the name on the tag told me I didn't want to see the receipt.

It took me minutes in contrast to the hours I'm sure Cole's spent getting pampered for the evening. No matter, I wanted her to feel as beautiful as possible. She deserved it.

I went downstairs just after seven and waited. I could hear my girls talking, but I paid no attention to their conversation – it was private. One thing Esme and I tried to keep sacred to Cole, was privacy. We didn't spy on her. We could just as easily tune out her conversations, so we did. Teenage girls love their privacy, and Cole was no exception. Her computer and phone had passwords even I didn't know.

Just before seven-thirty, Esme called that they were coming down. I stood up and went over to the staircase. Esme came down first with a grin.

"She's so beautiful, Carlisle," she told me.

"Of course she is."

"And you look very handsome in that suit." She kissed my cheek. "Dashing, even."

"Thank you, _amore_. I don't think I look too bad." I chuckled as I heard Cole begin her descent down the stairs. I didn't hear the click of heels on the wood, so that made me happy. I wouldn't have to spend the evening keeping her upright.

When she came into view, I was in awe. She was so gorgeous. She wore a beautiful light green dress and her hair was half up/half down in ringlets. She glowed. She wrapped her arms around her torso and blushed.

"Do I look silly?" she asked.

"No," I whispered. "You look amazing, baby girl. Absolutely beautiful."

She blushed even more. "And the cast?"

I hadn't even seen it, to be honest. "I didn't notice, but now that you mention it, I think the pink compliments your dress very well." I chuckled lightly.

She rolled her eyes. "Dad."

"You look amazing!" Esme sang. "Picture time! Cole, get over here next to your dad!"

Cole walked the rest of the way down the stairs and I took her hand. I pulled her into my side as Esme flashed away with the camera.

Cole smiled and indulged Esme's every whim. She turned this way, and that way upon Esme's direction. Smiled big when asked, and even spun around with my hand in hers. She just laughed.

"Beautiful," Esme said, looking at the screen of the digital camera. "I'm going to have a few of these printed out and framed. Maybe blow one up really big and hang it over the fireplace." She smirked.

Cole rolled her eyes. "Mom," she whined.

"Okay, okay, no mega pictures of you… yet." She winked, I laughed, and Cole just rolled her eyes once more.

"We should probably get going," I said. "We're running a little behind."

It was already seven-forty-five, so I knew we wouldn't be on time, but that didn't matter much. I was positive we wouldn't be the last to arrive.

**Cole's POV**

Dad had the Mercedes pulled around to the front of the house, so I didn't have to walk through the garage with my dress. In fact, since we a little snow on the ground, he just picked me up and carried me to the car, so my dress didn't get ruined. The drive took about a half an hour since dad refused to drive very fast on the snowy roads. The banquet was being held at the lodge in town. It was kinda the special occasion location, I guess.

"I brought your pain pills with, so if you start hurting too much, tell me. I'll give you one and we can go home," dad said.

"Okay," I said. "It feels pretty good right now, actually. The Advil seems to work really well."

He turned his head and smiled. "Good. Still, let me know if it gets to be too much."

"Will do," I said as he pulled up to the valet in front of the lodge.

The entrance was covered, so there wasn't any snow in my way when dad opened my door for me and held out his gloved hand. I took it and stood from the car. The chilly air breezed through my Peacoat with ease, and I shivered.

"Here's your ticket, Dr. Cullen. Enjoy the banquet," the valet boy told dad, handing him the piece of paper.

We were a little late, but it wasn't like everyone was on time, so it didn't matter. Once we got in the building, dad checked our coats, and we walked into the hall behind a couple. People flocked to dad once they saw him. I kept my casted arm wrapped around his right one as he shook their hands and greeted them warmly.

"And this must be your daughter, right?" the man asked. "I've yet to meet you, sweetheart, but your father speaks very highly of you in the OR."

"Cole, this is Dr. Sanders. He's our new anesthesiologist," dad introduced.

"It's good to meet you," I said as he held his left hand out to me. I put my right in his, and he shook it awkwardly.

"Sorry," he said. "Well, it's wonderful to meet you. I hear we see a lot of you around the hospital. I hope it's not for mishaps like that one."

"I volunteer, though I'm good for a fall every now and then." I laughed lightly.

"Keep those to a minimum. Wouldn't want to see you in the OR."

I felt dad squeeze my arm a little tighter between his and his body. Who the hell said something like that? I didn't like this guy. "That won't be happening," dad said, putting on a kind smile. "If you'll excuse us, we're going to get something to drink and find our table." Dad ended it with a nod and pulled me away.

The bartender made me a Shirley Temple and dad received some kind of alcoholic drink he had no intention of drinking. It was a party, I guess he just wanted to fit in. He mingled a little more before we made our way to a table. My seat had "Mrs. Esme Cullen" marked with a note card in front of it. His had "Dr. Carlisle Cullen", obviously. It felt weird taking mom's place. People were expecting her to be here, so I hoped it wasn't a big deal that I came instead.

"Dr. Cullen, Cole," Dr. Robins said, sitting down next to me.

_Cool,_ I thought. I had Dr. Robins and Linda next to me. People I actually knew well and liked.

Linda looked gorgeous in her red dress with her blonde hair high on top of her head. Dr. Robins looked pretty good, too. Everyone was so dressed up, and it felt awesome to kinda fit in.

"How are you two?" dad asked.

"Great," Linda said. "The rugrats are with my parents, so we have a nice evening to ourselves. I honestly don't know what to do with myself." She laughed. "Cole, I'm so glad you came. Is your mom here?"

"No," dad said. "Esme was beginning to feel a little under the weather, so she stayed home."

"Oh, that's not good. Nothing serious, I hope?"

"Dad shook his head with a smile. "Not at all. She'll be just fine. Thankfully, my lovely daughter decided she'd like to accompany me."

"How are you, Cole?" Dr. Robins asked. "Is the wrist feeling okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Good old Advil is working like a charm." I smiled.

"Wonderful. You tolerate pain way better than I do." Dr. Robins laughed. "I'd still be nursing that thing like crazy, and taking advantage of those narcotics."

"It's really not that bad. I think wrapping my thumb was a little bit of overkill, though."

He chuckled. "It'll heal better if your thumb is immobilized as well. I'm sure at your two week checkup, your orthopedist will give you a new cast without it."

"He should," dad agreed.

"Great. Two weeks with no thumb sounds just dandy." I giggled.

"Dr. Cullen!" Dr. Keeler – the chief of staff – said, sitting his wife down next to dad.

"Dr. Keeler," dad acknowledged.

"Dr. Robins, so good to see you."

"Likewise, sir," Dr. Robins said.

"My, my, Cole, I almost didn't recognize you. I think it's been months since I last saw you around the hospital," Dr. Keeler said.

"I was there on Monday and Wednesday. It was my first week back," I said.

"Ah, I'm glad your back. Are you just volunteering Monday and Wednesday now?"

"Fridays too, but I got a little sidetracked yesterday."

"I heard you broke your wrist. Are you holding off on after school shifts for a while?"

"Hopefully not too long," dad said. "She can continue when she's ready. It's up to her."

That was a bit surprising. I had thought dad wouldn't let me volunteer until my wrist was healed. That thought had actually had me a bit bummed. But knowing he'd let me, put a smile on my face.

"I'll be back Monday," I said.

"Great!" Dr. Keeler said. "Come see me if you get the chance."

After dinner was served – which dad ate and then excused himself to get rid of – Dr. Keeler got on stage and starting talking. He made a few corny jokes, thanked people, and then called dad up to the stage.

"And now a few words from our largest contributor. Dr. Carlisle Cullen is our Chief of Trauma Surgery, and a very valued staff member. Dr. Cullen." He motioned for dad to join him.

Dad rose from his seat and took my hand to help me up. He let it go so I could lift my dress a little to walk up the few steps to the stage. Dad went to the podium as I stood back a little. He shook Dr. Keeler's hand, and then looked out to the audience. It felt a little weird being on stage. People were looking at me. I was even blushing.

Dad cleared his throat and began. "Thank you all for coming tonight. I feel honored that the board has asked me to speak. My family and I are very fortunate to be able to donate to this hospital. It's obviously very near and dear to my heart. As a doctor working in the hospital, I see things we need for our patients. The knowledge that I am fortunate enough to help gives me great joy.

"This community deserves the best. My family and I moved here a few years ago and couldn't have been greeted more warmly. Our staff at the hospital are some of the best I've ever had the privilege to work with, and anything I can do to keep this hospital running smoothly, I will." He flashed a smile. "And since my wife couldn't be here tonight, I was lucky enough to accompanied by my lovely daughter." He looked over to me. Why was he putting this attention on me?

"She volunteers at the hospital, and I'm so proud of her for it." He looked to me and grinned. "So, once again, I'm more than happy to be able to help out. My family feels honored you've welcomed us so warmly. Thank you and have a great evening."

He stepped away from the podium and shook each member of the hospital board's hands. They each thanked him, and he came back to my side and took my hand as we walked down the steps once more. I was a little embarrassed that he put that kind of attention on me, but he liked letting everyone know how proud he was, so I wasn't upset. Still, I didn't want the attention.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear as we sat back down.

I smiled "It's okay. Just no more special attention, got it?" I giggled.

He smirked. "Of course."

After everyone who needed to speak, spoke, music started playing. Couple started to dance, and I began feeling bad that I had taken moms place here. She and dad would have been a sight to see dancing. They were amazing, and people might have been jealous.

"Would you like to dance?" dad asked as I watched everyone.

"What? No! I… I'm not a very good dancer, and I think it'd be a little weird."

He smirked and scooted his chair back. "I'll be right back."

I watched as he walked away. I didn't know what he was doing! He went straight to the band and began speaking to someone. He looked back at me, flashing a smile to the man who nodded. They were in cahoots about something, and I did not like it one bit. The man smiled and shook dad's hand, before dad started walking back towards me.

"What did you do?" I asked, eyeing him skeptically.

He just smirked and put his hand out for me. "Come on."

"Dad."

"Dance with me, please?"

I rolled my eyes and gave him my hand. "I've never danced before. So, that's fair warning."

He chuckled. "I'm well aware of the risks. I chose to ignore them."

He led me out to the middle of the dance floor as the music changed. It was slow and peaceful. He took my casted arm and set it against his shoulder, and then clasped my right hand in his. He laid his other hand against the middle of my back and began swaying. I was a mess not knowing what to do.

"Just follow my lead. Don't over think it," he told me.

I looked around as people turned their attention to us. I fumbled even more. This was getting embarrassing.

"Don't mind them. No one is watching us," he tried to tell me.

"Yes, they are."

"Doesn't matter. Just dance with me, _tesoro_. I think your old man deserves one dance." He winked.

He tried to keep me in step with him. So far I hadn't stepped on his feet, so I wasn't that ashamed… yet. A few moments passed as we swayed, I was getting a little more comfortable and was really enjoying myself. I always wanted a daddy to dance with. I should have asked him to teach me before. It was actually pretty fun.

"I'm going to spin you," he warned.

My eyes got wide. "No."

"Yes." He nodded. "It'll be slow. Just turn with my hand."

He rearranged his hand so it didn't clasp mine. He dropped his hand from my back and began twisting his wrist. I went around in a slow circle – keeping my feet from getting tangled up in themselves. I felt like a princess. Soon enough, I was facing him once more. He was grinning, and I was too. Instead of keeping us far apart, he pulled me against his chest. I put my arm against his shoulder once more as he rested his hand against the middle of my back.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

I shook my head against his chest. "No. I liked it."

"I'm glad."

We swayed slowly for a little while longer before he decided to spin me again. This time, it wasn't as awkward. I certainly wasn't a pro, but it felt wonderful to be twirled around. I think I liked this dancing thing. Once I was back against him again, the music quieted down – the song was ending.

"Thank you," he said as we separated. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"You're welcome." I grinned. "Thanks, dad. That was nice."

"Do you want to go again?"

I nodded my head. "Can we?"

"Of course!" He turned his head back to that man with the band and nodded.

Another slow song started playing, and I danced with my daddy once more. Much less awkward the second time around, let's just say. Once the song had ended, I yawned. Dad chuckled lightly.

"I think it's about time to leave. Don't you?" he asked.

"What time is it?"

"Almost eleven. Let's go home."

I nodded. "Okay. I think it's about time for a little more Advil anyway."

His eyebrows creased. "Pain?"

"Achy," I corrected.

As we walked out, dad said goodnight to a few people and shook their hands. He retrieved our coats and we headed outside. A lot more snow had fallen, and was still coming down. Once the valet pulled the car around, dad opened my door for me. I slid in and waited for him to get in. I turned my seat heater on and the heat was going full blast. After tipping the valet, dad got in and we started our way home.

"I had really great time tonight, daddy. Thank you for bringing me," I said.

"You are very welcome, baby girl. Thank you for accompanying me."

"You know, I do believe I'm pretty. Miranda's words won't change that. But tonight was nice. It felt really good to get all dressed up. I know your guys reasoning for me coming tonight was to make me feel pretty by getting all dressed up, but I didn't need that."

"We also wanted you to have a little fun."

"I did. I actually had a lot of fun."

"Wonderful. I did too. It was great getting to spend that time with you. And dancing with you was my favorite part."

"I was so awkward!" I laughed.

He shook his head. "No, you were very graceful. You looked beautiful out there."

"Well, I had a really great time, so thank you again."

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed! Happy late birthday Gretchen!

**Please Review…**


	61. 5th Outtake

**A/N: **So this is why there hasn't been a LRtS update. Well, this and Christmastime is insane for me! I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to get it up by Christmas, but I just couldn't stop adding things. I missed teenage Cole, so yes, there will be another outtake soon.

Hope you had a good Christmas or Holiday!

One more thing, this is fiction, so don't hold it against me if things aren't exactly how they'd be in real life. I want things a certain way, and since I'm writing this, I can do that.

**Thanks,** Gretchen for reading this as I wrote it. Me loves you!

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Cole's senior year in high school. Christmastime.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

College application letters were all sent, my first semester as a senior was about over, and I was scared to death. If I got accepted to any of the colleges I applied to, this time next year I'd be living away from home. I wouldn't see my parents every day. I wouldn't be able to hug Dad when he got home from work, and I wouldn't get to cook with Mom, just so she could teach me. I'd be on my own. I. Was. Terrified.

But at the same time, I was excited. This time next year, I'd be an adult. I'd be eighteen. I'd be independent, which meant I wouldn't be leaning on my parents for everything. I'd have to deal with things on my own. And unless I decided to find a new one, I wouldn't have a therapist to talk to. Emily and I had discussed it. She said if I wanted to, if I felt up to it, I didn't have to talk to someone. Even now, I only saw her once a month. That started earlier this year. And trust me; our talks weren't all that interesting nowadays. We talked about the future mostly, and she tried to help me with this fear of leaving home.

"Oh, it's starting to snow!" Mom said, looking out toward the patio.

We were busy baking. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, so we were baking for the ER and surgical staff Dad worked with every day. Ever since my first Christmas with them, this had become a tradition. Some years, Dad had off, but others, like this year, he was working on Christmas Eve, too. Thankfully, he had Christmas day and the day after off, but after that he was back to working his normal schedule — eight to five, which was what he was working today. The good news was that since I was off school until after the New Year, he said I could observe him all I wanted. Today I was going in at noon, and then next week, starting on Tuesday, I would be observing him every day he worked until school was back in session. After that, I'd be going back to my volunteering with observing whenever I had the time.

"We're going to have a white Christmas," I said, smiling as I iced the cookies she had set in front of me. "It's going to be great."

She nodded as she pulled another sheet out of the oven. "Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett are all coming in tomorrow. I'm so excited to see them again. I just wish everyone else could make it, but I understand that they have their own plans."

"Josh and Rico are just too wrapped up in the whole honeymoon phase." I smirked. "Edward and Bella have an actual excuse, thanks to the Volturi," I sighed. "I hate that they're still under Aro's thumb."

She smiled sadly. "It's their choice, honey. But everyone has already promised that next year, we'll be together."

"And I'll have to come home for it."

"Yes! You'll be in college, baby!"

"Hopefully," I scoffed. "I'm kinda nervous that I'll be rejected from everywhere I applied. I mean, I only applied to a few schools, and they're all really hard to get in to."

"You're so smart that I have no doubt you'll be accepted to every single one of them, and then you'll have to choose where to go."

"Yale." I grinned. "I'd pick Yale."

She laughed softly. "Of course you would."

"Dad said it was his favorite."

"You know, you don't always have to go with what your father likes. We all know you have a mind of your own. He'd be happy no matter where you choose to go."

"I know, but I like Yale. When we visited the campus in the spring, I loved it. Plus, they get a lot of rain and cloud cover, if you guys ever wanted to visit. Johns Hopkins in Maryland gets a lot more sun."

"So Harvard is no longer your second choice? Johns Hopkins is?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess all I really need to be concerned about right now is my undergraduate, but they have a great medical school. Still, I'd have to apply for that when it's time, even if I do go there for my undergrad. But I just really want to go to Yale for both."

"I know, baby. Like I said, though, you'll get accepted everywhere, so you'll have lots of places to choose from."

I rolled my eyes. "The likelihood of that is so slim, Mom. I'm not getting in everywhere. I may not even get in to Yale."

"You will." She smiled. "They'd be fools not to accept you."

I reached over to the pan, thinking it was one of the ones that had already cooled. Mom looked away, so she didn't see me. I grabbed a cookie off of it and felt the familiar burning sensation as I yanked my hand away.

"Owie, owie, owie," I said, sticking my fingertips in my mouth.

"Oh, baby! What did you do?"

"I burnt my fingers," I mumbled.

She took my hand out of my mouth and pulled me over to the sink, turning it on and running my fingertips under cool water. It eased the pain a little. Really, the burns weren't that bad.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"It's okay," I said. "I don't think I burned them that bad."

She pulled my hand from the water and scrutinized my fingertips as she ran her own finger over my index pad.

"I'm not sure if they'll blister," she said. "I don't think so."

"Me either. I think I'm okay."

She nodded, smiling sadly. "Since I know this won't deter you from going to the hospital today, make sure to have Dad look at them, okay?"

"I will, Mom."

She sighed. "And I think you have plenty of cookies to bring Linda and Dr. Robins, if you want to go ahead and take theirs."

"Any chance you can put two more tins together, so that I can leave them at the nurses' station and in the doctors' lounge?"

"I think so. I'll just leave the doctors' a little light." She winked. "After all, one of them won't be having any."

I giggled. "I think you're right on that."

* * *

After Mom made up three tins of cookies for me and put them in a box, I left for the hospital. When I walked into the ER, the receptionist smiled and hit the button, making the automatic door open for me. I got to the nurses' station and set the box down, looking around for Dad.

"Are those what I think they are?" Linda asked, coming up behind me.

I gave her a quick hug and smile. "Do you think they're amazing homemade cookies, baked by the wonderful Esme Cullen?"

"Your mother is wonderful, and they smell delicious!"

"Yes, they do," Dad said, coming over from one of the exam rooms.

"Hey, Daddy," I said, standing on my tippy-toes as he leaned down to hug me. "How's work?"

He kissed my forehead as he let me go. "It's great. Even better, now that you're here. And Mom texted me a few minutes ago. I believe I'm supposed to look at a few fingertips?" he asked, giving me that pointed look.

Was I actually going to tell him? No, no, I wasn't. And Mom, of course, knew that. I should have realized she'd text him.

I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers in his face. "They're fine, see?"

He smirked and took my hand, holding it still. "A little red, which means they're probably a bit tender, but yes, I believe they're fine. You'll live," he laughed.

"I'm still waiting for cookies," Linda said, laughing a little.

"Oh, of course!" I said, grabbing the first tin out before Dad pulled the rest out for me. "These are special for you and Dr. Robins."

She took them from me with a grin. "Thank you so much, honey. And please, thank your Mom for me."

"I will. I have a tin each for all the nurses and doctors, too. I'll just set the nurses' behind the desk and can you let me in the doctors' lounge, Dad?"

"Sure, tesoro." He smiled, pulling his keycard from his pocket and handing it to me. "Just set the tin on the coffee table."

Linda put the nurses' tin behind the counter for me while I went to the doctors' lounge. It was empty, so I just left the lid off the tin on the coffee table, like Dad said to. As I left the lounge, I ran into another doctor.

"Taking full advantage of your privileges, huh?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I just left some cookies in there."

He smiled. "I'm just kidding. And I heard about the cookies, which is why I'm on my way. Tell your mom thanks for me."

I nodded, smiling. "Of course, Dr. Martin."

When I got back to the nurses' station, Dad was busy writing in a chart, so I waited patiently beside him.

"So no surgeries today?" I asked.

"Nothing scheduled," he said. "And as long as nothing comes in, you can stay with me until the end of my shift."

"Awesome."

He smiled and closed the chart, passing it to one of the nurse's, who was munching on one of Mom's cookies. She handed him another chart, and he flipped it open, reading about the patient.

"Possible fractured ankle," he said. "Seem like a good way to start your day?"

I nodded. "Yep."

He smiled. "Then follow me."

I stood off to the side as Dad examined the middle-aged man's ankle. Whenever he touched it, the man cried out.

"Well, I can't be sure without an x-ray, but I don't believe it's fractured," Dad said. "We've been pretty slow today, so it shouldn't be long before we can get you into radiology."

"Are you sure?" the man asked. "It really hurts."

Dad nodded. "I'm sure it does. We'll get you something for pain in the meantime."

"Okay, thanks, doc."

Dad wrote out an order for pain medicine and had a nurse give it to the man. Seriously, they guy was in tears. How the heck couldn't his ankle be fractured?

"What makes you think it's not fractured?" I asked.

"He had more movement than what I'd expect with a fracture," he told me. "Also, I couldn't hear any fractures when I moved it," he whispered. "But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I may not hear a hairline fracture. I'm mostly going off the movement and look. Very minimal swelling and no signs of bruising. I'm almost positive it's a severe sprain."

"He seems like he's in a lot of pain for just a sprain. I mean, I wasn't that… cry-ish when I sprained my ankle last summer, was I?"

He chuckled. "No, you weren't. I'll let you in on a secret. Some men are very sensitive to pain or illness, which is why their wives usually complain to me."

"They call their husbands babies to you?" I laughed.

"Sometimes. Now, while we wait for the films, I have a cough to check out. Coming?" He smiled.

"Yep."

I stayed with Dad, following him around until five, which was when his shift ended. The first man I saw with him did have a sprained ankle, but Dad said there was a possibility there could be tendon damage, so he gave him a referral to an orthopedist, who he said might do an MRI. Other than that, the day was mostly slow, but I wasn't bored since I got to watch Dad. When we started to leave, we found the ground completely covered in snow — more than what was forecasted.

"I'm going to leave my car here and drive yours, okay?" Dad asked.

"I can drive," I said.

He shook his head. "I'd rather you didn't. If people ask tomorrow, I'll say Mom dropped me off."

"All right, Daddy, but I can drive in a little snow," I said, handing him my keys.

When he started my car, he noticed I was running low on gas. I just hadn't filled it up lately was all, so he did it for me. They just bought me this car a few months ago, since my old one was totaled in the accident last year. They paid for the car, but Mom had me do chores to get enough money to get a new license, since Dad tore mine up that day. It was only forty dollars, but since I didn't have a job and I had to pay it, I did chores to earn the money. I cleaned, took out trash, and helped Mom garden. Honestly, it was pretty simple and stuff I did anyway, but it was the point behind it.

"Tomorrow you're baking with Mom, right?" Dad asked, driving home.

"Yep, and then we'll bring stuff into the hospital. How late do you have to work?"

"Five, baby girl, and I'm also on trauma call. Hopefully, I won't have to go in after I get off, but there's a chance."

I frowned. "Well, I hope you'll be home on Christmas."

"You know I'll try my hardest." He turned his head and smiled. "This is our last Christmas with you living with us."

"Maybe," I sighed. "You know, I could always take a year off."

He raised his eyebrows. "No."

"People do it."

"You're not going to. Though I can't say I'm looking forward to the day you leave us, I won't let you sell yourself short. You've worked so hard. I know you'll get into every school you applied to, and then you'll go to the one you want to go to the most."

"You know my choice."

He smiled. "You really don't have to go to Yale just because it's my favorite."

"Oh, Daddy, I want to go to Yale."

* * *

After dinner, I headed upstairs to my room to wrap Mom's and Dad's gifts. I had already done everyone else's. I got Alice and Rose a shared gift. A trip to Paris where they could shop until the hearts were content. I got Jasper a first edition of a book and Emmett a signed football jersey. I was really hoping that they'd like their gifts. It was extremely difficult to shop for everyone. They had everything and the resources to get anything they wanted. I was actually pretty thankful we didn't celebrate any birthdays because then I'd really be out of ideas.

I pulled the bag that held Mom's and Dad's gifts out from my desk drawer. I knew they wouldn't snoop, so it wasn't like they were really hidden. Mom wasn't as hard to shop for as Dad was. I bought her two things. A little wooden statue that had two people embracing — a mom and a little girl. I also got her a bracelet from Tiffany's. It was a white gold band with diamonds on it. I knew she'd like them. She always liked jewelry, and I thought the statue was really nice because what it signified — us. As for Dad, it took me a while to come up with what to get him. But then, I was online and saw an ad for a Kindle. Honestly, it seemed like the best thing for him. I did worry he wouldn't use it, though. He had a million books, so he'd have to buy new eBooks. He was always buying books, though, so for now on he just had to buy them for his Kindle.

Two paper cuts later, I had the three gifts perfectly wrapped with pretty bows on top. I carried them downstairs and put them under the massive tree, along with all the other gifts already laid out.

"What did you get me?"

I jumped at Dad's voice. He chuckled softly and smiled.

"You scared me," I said.

"I'm sorry, tesoro. I was just playing with you."

"Not funny. You wouldn't want to give your daughter a heart attack, would you?"

"No, that would be very bad." He smirked. "So… what did you get me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Like I'm gonna tell you."

"I'll tell you what you're getting if you tell me."

I laughed. "Yeah, right!"

"True," he sighed. "I guess I'll just have to wait until Christmas morning, huh?"

"Exactly." I smiled. "So what are we doing tonight?"

"Whatever you'd like, tesoro. How about a Christmas movie?"

I grinned. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Always Rudolph."

He chuckled. "Sounds just about perfect."

I snuggled between Mom and Dad on the big couch as the movie played. I had a mug of hot chocolate and the fireplace was going just perfect to keep me warm between them, even with the blankets. Honestly, no matter how old I got, there was nothing better than snuggling between my parents.

"We're on the Island of Misfit Toys. Here we don't want to stay. We want to travel with Santa Claus in his magic sleigh," I sang along.

"A pack full of toys means a sack full of joys, for millions of girls and for millions of boys. When Christmas Day is here, the most wonderful day of the year," Dad sang with Mom as I laughed.

"I forgot how much I loved this movie," I said.

"It is a good movie, sweetie," Mom said, smiling as she held me tighter. "Do you want more hot chocolate?"

I shook my head. "I'm good, but thanks."

"How about a cookie?" Dad asked, picking the plate up off the end table and putting it in front of me.

I about snorted. "I'm really okay, but thanks."

As the movie continued, I rested my head on Dad's shoulder and watched with sleepy eyes. Eventually, I dozed off. When I woke up, I was in Dad's arms as he carried me up the stairs.

"What time is it?" I asked, stifling a yawn.

"Quarter 'til ten," he said with a smile. "You always fall asleep during movies. Have you ever actually finished one?" he laughed softly.

"Oh, hush," I said, burying my face in his chest. "I think the hot chocolate was laced."

"Was not!" Mom yelled from downstairs as I laughed.

Dad set me on my feet once we were in my room.

"Are you going to go to bed?" he asked.

I shrugged "Maybe after I get a shower. I'll come down and say goodnight before I go to bed, okay?"

"All right, baby girl. Don't stay up too late."

"I'm on vacation." I grinned. "I can stay up as late as I want."

He chuckled softly. "Fine," he sighed, dramatically with a small smirk. "Come say goodnight in a little bit."

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too, tesoro."

* * *

"I hope this is enough," Mom said, loading the second large cardboard box into the back of her car.

"Seriously?" I asked. "There are like… a thousand cookies here," I laughed.

"There are not a thousand. Two-hundred and seventy-three, actually." She smirked.

"Yeah, I'm sure there are enough."

"All right, let's grab the mail on our way out. Get in."

We drove down to the end of the driveway where the mailbox was. Of course the mailman wouldn't drive all the way up to the house, so our mailbox was a half mile away from the house. Mom just rolled down her window and pulled the pile of envelopes out. She just stuck them into her bag on the floorboard, not going through it yet.

When we got close to the hospital, I texted Dad to let him know we were about there, so he could come help carry the boxes. They were actually really heavy. Mom had tins filled with the cookies, which added to the weight. The tins were actually really pretty, with names on a few of them, too. Dad told Mom who all was working today, so she personalized a few of them. And yes, Dr. Robins was getting another tin because he had to work all night. Luckily, he got off at five in the morning, so he'd be home in time for Christmas morning with his kids.

We made our rounds through the hospital, leaving a tin in a few departments. Pediatrics actually got a few, for the kids too, not just the employees. Dad actually got us a cart to put the boxes on so Mom and I could make the rounds ourselves, since he had to get back to work. We saved the ER for last since that was where he was. We actually had a few tins left over, so I gave them to the patients who were waiting.

There was a little boy in one room. He had an asthma attack, so he was doing an albuterol treatment.

"Do you like cookies?" I asked, setting the blue tin down.

He nodded, pulling the mouth piece out. "Uh-huh," he said.

"Well, if your mom is okay with it," I said, looking over to the woman who nodded, smiling, "I have a bunch for you. I bet you've been brave, huh?"

He nodded again. "No tears."

I smiled and raised my hand. "High-five on that one!"

He raised his hand to mine, slapping it as he took another breathe from the inhaler.

"You know," I said. "If you don't eat all of these, I bet Santa wouldn't mind a few tonight."

He nodded. "He likes cookies and milk."

"He does!" I laughed. "I'm going to set mine out tonight with a thank you note. Do you write him a note?"

He pulled the mouth piece out again, setting it on the bed. "I asks him if he's real. Momma," he said. "I think I done."

"Okay, baby. I'm going to go get your nurse," she said.

"No need," Dad said, coming over. "Little Man is all finished with his treatment. Can I have another listen?" he asked, pulling his stethoscope from his neck.

"It's cold," the boy said.

Dad grimaced. "I know, but I'll be quick, and then you can talk to Cole some more about Santa."

"Cole?"

"I'm Cole," I said. "What's your name?"

Dad pressed his stethoscope to the boy's back. "Dylan," the boy said.

"Oh, I like that name!"

He nodded. "It's a good name."

I smiled. "It is."

"Okay," Dad said. "Your lungs sound much better, Dylan. I think you can go home." He smiled.

"Yay! I'm not gonna miss Santa?"

"Of course not," Dad said, writing in the chart. "No one should miss Santa."

"So back to your note," I said. "What does Santa say? Does he ever write you back?"

He nodded. "I make two boxes. He's gotta check one. One says yes and one says no. He always checks yes — that he's real. And he signs his name!"

"You have Santa's signature?" I asked. "That's awesome!"

"Ya! And I leave a carrot for da reindeer! 'Cause they get hungry, too."

"That's right! I guess I should do that, too. They do a lot of work, huh?"

I looked over to see Dad smiling and chuckling softly at my exchange with Dylan about Santa Claus. The boy was cute and this was actually pretty fun. I never believed in Santa, but I wanted to. When I was little, I actually thought he skipped me because I was bad. At least, that was what my biological mom said. Christmas was… a really sad time of the year when I was little, but now, with Mom and Dad, it was the best. I still didn't believe in Santa, obviously, but they made it such a happy time, and that was what mattered.

"The elves, too," Dylan said. "The gets everything ready for Santa. I wonder if I should leave somethin' for them."

"Mmm, I wonder what elves like," I said. "Maybe you should put a few cookies back in this tin and tell Santa to give them to them."

His face lit up. "That's da best idea! Mom, can we?"

She laughed softly. "I think that's a great idea, baby."

"Thanks for the idea, Cole!" he said.

"You're welcome, buddy. I'm gonna go, okay? Thank you so much for talking to me about Santa."

"What do you say about the cookies, Dylan?" his mom asked.

"Thanks, Cole!"

"You're welcome. Try not to eat them all, okay? Leave some for the elves."

He nodded. "I will! Are you gonna leave some, too?"

"Of course! I bet it'll make them really happy."

As Dad and I walked away, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.

"That was very sweet of you, baby girl," he said.

"He was a cute kid."

"So are you leaving cookies out for Santa and his elves?" he chuckled.

"Well, yeah," I laughed. "And a carrot for the reindeer."

"When are you going to write your note?" Mom asked, smiling. "I'm sure Santa will love it."

I rolled my eyes and stood on my toes, cupping my hand over her ear. "There is no Santa Clause," I whispered.

She gasped and pulled away. "Then who do you think gives you your gifts?"

I smirked. "For this year, would you like me to go along with that myth?"

She smiled. "You don't have to."

"And who's to say it's a myth?" Dad asked. "We're real."

I laughed softly. "You know? You have a good point there. Maybe the reason Santa lives forever, is fast enough to go around the world in one night, and is all-knowing is because he's like you."

He shook his head, smiling. "Only you would come to that conclusion," he said, looking down at his watch. "Shouldn't you two be heading to the airport soon, love?" he asked Mom.

"What?" I asked.

Mom grinned. "We have four people to pick up!"

"We're picking them up? Really?"

She nodded. "Surprise!"

Dad wrapped his arm around me and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "They're all very excited to see you, baby girl."

"Oh, I can't wait to see them, too. I just thought they'd come in on their own."

"They were going to," Mom said, "but we figured it'd be nice to pick them up. A little more… human-ish."

I smiled. "Very normal."

* * *

Mom and I made the familiar drive to Seattle, talking a little along the way. Really, we just talked about anything and everything. A little about school — I had a book I needed to finish reading before the break was over — a little about the future, and a lot about our family and how time had changed things.

"Christmas was nice before you, but none of those compare to the ones we've celebrated since you came into our home," Mom said, looking over and smiling. "Our family is complete now because of you."

My cheeks heated up. "I had dreams of what Christmas was supposed to be like, you know? When I was younger? I dreamed of waking up early in the morning, jumping into my parent's bed, just so excited that it was Christmas morning, and then going downstairs and being amazed by the beautiful, large tree with presents under it," I said. "None of those dreams compare to my new reality, because of you guys. This is so much better than I could ever dream of."

She took my hand. "Christmas is a good time for you, right?"

I cocked my eyebrow. "Of course it is. What do you mean?"

"I just wondered how you felt about this time of the year, given your past."

"I was saved during this time of the year. My life got exponentially better. To me, there isn't a better time of the year. After six months, actually, fourteen years of hell, I finally got everything I ever hoped for. A family."

We continued to talk, and I was sure I was about to bring Mom to tears at one point. She did it to me, actually. By the time we got to the airport, I had to wipe my cheeks off. But they were good tears. We talked about how much having this family meant to me. I couldn't help but get a little teary.

"They're all coming in together?" I asked, looking toward the terminal they'd come out of to get to baggage claim.

"Yes," Mom said. "They met up in New York."

I smiled. "Have they landed?"

"Maybe," she teased.

"What? They're going to try and surprised me?"

"I don't know. We'll have to see if you spot them first." She winked.

I kept my eyes trained on the terminal, watching for any sign of them. Another plane must have unloaded because more people kept coming out, but there was no sign of my siblings. After what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, Alice and Jasper walked out hand-in-hand, smiling as they looked at me. Alice let go of Jasper's hand and hurried to me, pulling me into a hug.

"Oh, I've missed you, Cole!" she said, swaying us side-to-side.

I laughed softly, patting her back before she let me go. "I missed you too, Alice. How's New York?"

"It's great! I'm enjoying going back to school, and Jasper loves it, too. He may hate high school, but he really likes college, don't you, Jasper?" she asked.

"Yes," he laughed, putting his arm over my shoulder. "I just don't do well with high schoolers."

"We are a bit annoying, huh?"

"Not you. Never you." He smirked.

"Good, because I'd hate to be annoying," I laughed. "So where are Emmett and Rose?"

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around my waist, lifted me up, and swung me around. I heard Emmett's booming laugh from behind me as I was set down. I turned around and found my big brother, grinning.

"Emmy!" I squealed, throwing my arms around his massive form.

"Merry Christmas, Coley," he laughed, squeezing me tight before letting go.

I smiled. "Merry Christmas."

I looked over to Rose, who was smiling, waiting patiently beside him. "Merry Christmas, Cole," she said, putting her arms around me. "We've missed you so much."

Tears clouded my eyes. I had missed Rose… a lot. Well, I missed everyone, but I had gotten pretty close to Rose. She was my sister and friend. She was great to talk to when I didn't want to talk to Mom or Dad. Sometimes it was just easier to talk to her because she was closer to my age than Mom was. When she and Emmett left this past summer to go out on their own for a little while, I realized how lonely it was being an only child, of sorts. I just missed the company sometimes.

"I missed you, too," I said, letting her go.

She smiled and wiped my tears. "Stop that, okay? I'm sure Carlisle and Esme haven't made it that bad to be alone with them."

I laughed softly. "No, they're not that bad."

"What do you say we get back to the house?" Jasper asked. "I've been in the mood for some mountain lion."

I smirked. "I'm sure they just started to feel safe again, too."

* * *

After visiting for a while when we got home, Mom went with everyone out hunting, leaving me alone. Dad would be home soon, though, so I made use of my alone time. I sat by the fireplace and read. I had to finish this book and get started on my paper for it soon. It was due in mid-January, just before finals. Honestly, I wasn't too into this book, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It just wasn't one that I enjoyed, so I had been taking my sweet time on reading it.

"It can't be terrible," Dad said as I lifted my head. "That face makes me think it's atrocious and, personally, I don't think it is."

"It's so not one of my favorites," I said. "It's… dark and depressing. I mean, Gregor turns into a giant bug, Dad."

He came and sat down next to me. "It has a lesson in it."

"He dies, right?"

He smirked. "Finish the book, baby girl. How much do you have left?"

"Eh, not that much. I just don't want to read it anymore," I said, putting my bookmark in it and setting it on the table. "Are you going to try and catch Mom and the others for some hunting?"

He shook his head. "I went a few days ago. I'll go with them before they leave."

"Cool."

"Will you come up to my office with me? I want to show you what I got Mom."

I smiled. "Of course!"

I hurried off the couch, getting tangled up in the blanket. Dad stopped me from face-planting, though. He just chuckled as I blushed and apologized. He took my hand and led me upstairs to his office. I plopped down in the chair across from his desk as he went to one of the locked drawers. He pulled out a small box first and passed it to me before pulling out a bag.

I opened the small box and found a necklace — a very beautiful one. The pendent was a heart, filled with diamonds. The chain was linked, but had a diamond every few links.

"This is gorgeous," I said, smiling, fingering it lightly.

"Do you think she'll like it?" he asked.

I looked up and giggled. "No doubt about it. Now, what's that?"

He held the bag out to me. I took it, surprised by its weight. I reached in and pulled out a frame. It had a picture of us — Dad, Mom, Emmett, Rose, Alice, Jasper, and me. Mom was actually in the middle. It said, "God Could Not Be Everywhere and Therefor He Made Mothers".

"Now that is perfect," I said.

"I'm putting it from all of us, all right?"

I smiled. "I think that's awesome, Dad. She'll love it."

"I saw it and couldn't resist." He smirked. "I figured she can put it on the fireplace or somewhere she'll see it every day. Maybe her study?"

"You know her; she'll find the perfect spot."

He nodded and started going through the mail Mom had put on his desk.

"I guess I'm gonna go read more," I sighed, standing up.

He chuckled. "It's not torture. Oh, wait." He picked a piece of mail up and handed it to me, smiling. "It's for you . . . from Yale."

My eyes bulged. I shouldn't have gotten an acceptance or rejection letter from anyone for a few more months. I came to the conclusion there must have been something wrong with my application. Oh God. What if they did some digging and found out I was technically dead in Minnesota? Shit. Crap.

"Oh, no," I said, sitting down with the letter in my hand.

"Tesoro, I'm sure it's nothing bad," Dad said as I looked up to meet his eyes. "Open it."

"If there was something wrong with my application, I don't have time to resubmit it. The deadline has passed, Dad."

"Stop worrying and open it, Cole." He held his hand out with his letter opener.

I took it and slid it under the fold. I took a deep breathe because I was on the verge of a panic attack.

"You do it," I said.

He chuckled. "No, you do it."

Before I could change my mind, I slid the opener, tearing it open. I pulled the piece of paper out and read it. I just… I was speechless.

"Well?" Dad asked. "What does it say?"

"They'd like to get to know me better, so they're offering me the chance to have an interview," I sighed. "They want an interview."

He smiled. "That's great, baby girl!"

"It's just… I mean, the website said I could request an interview. I didn't, so why are they offering?"

"Can I read it?"

I nodded and passed him the letter. I watched, silently, as he read it and smiled.

"Baby, they want to get to know you better. They'd like to set up and interview with two alumni. The interview is evaluative, meaning they'll read the interview report along with your application before making a decision."

"Do you think that means they're undecided?"

"I'm not sure, tesoro. To me, this reads very enthused. They want to hear more about you than just what was in the application. They're interested in you. That's good."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"Um… do you think other schools will ask for one?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. This is great news, Cole. Yale wants to talk to you."

I smiled a little. "Yale wants to talk to me."

"Get excited! Yale wants to talk to you!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm and stood up, walking around his desk. He pushed his chair out a little, and I sat down in his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head over and over as tears filled my eyes.

"I might actually get into Yale, Dad," I cried.

He wiped my cheeks. "Of course you will. There is no 'might' about it, okay?"

I nodded. "This is kinda cool that they want to talk to me."

"It's very cool, baby. You're special, and they already see that, so they want to know more."

"How awesome is it that I got that letter on Christmas Eve?"

"So awesome," he laughed. "They have good timing."

* * *

When everyone got back that evening, I helped Mom with my dinner. She made a ham. It was big, and yet only I'd be eating it. I laughed a little about that. All these big meals she makes and only one person eats them. I do have my selection of leftovers always, though, so that's nice.

"How's school, Cole?" Rose asked as I sat down beside her. She was going to paint my nails as we waited for dinner.

"It's good. I'm hoping to get all A's again. So far, as long as I do well on my finals, I will."

She smiled. "I have no doubt you'll have straight A's. You're so smart. Now, give me your hand."

"Don't get that on my counter, Rose," Mom said, teasing her.

Rose laughed. "I won't, Mom."

Rose painted every other finger red, and then went back and did the bare ones in green, giving me a festive look. She even took white polish and a tooth pick and put "snow" on my thumbs. When she was done, Alice came in and smiled, nodding in approval.

"Nice," Alice said. "Now we need to do her make up."

I laughed. "I think I'm good, but thanks. You can do it when we go shopping the day after Christmas."

She pretended to pout, making Mom, Rose, and I laugh. "You're no fun, Cole."

"Oh, really? So you don't want to do it the day after Christmas?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, your behind is mine that morning. Got it?"

I giggled. "I'm scared of you, pixie."

"You should be. I'll creep up on you when you least expect it."

"Oh, ninja pixie! Terrifying!"

"Ninja pixie?" Emmett laughed, coming in from the living room with Dad and Jasper behind him. "I'm so calling you that for now on."

Alice crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll get you back for that, shorty."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm technically taller than you now, so you can't call me that."

"You're so not five-foot."

"Actually," Dad said, "she is. She's just on the line."

"Boo-ya!" I laughed. "And that's coming from a medical professional, so you know it's true."

Alice scoffed. "He'd lie for you. I'm getting the tape measurer."

I laughed as Alice went through the kitchen drawer for it. When she found it, she made me stand up against the wall. Emmett held the bottom at my feet for her as she pulled it up to my head.

"I don't know," she said. "That's too close to call with your hair."

"We could shave her head," Emmett said.

I pushed away from the wall and put my hands over my hair. "That's not funny."

He laughed loudly. "Just kidding. Pixie, you're going to have to admit that Cole is about five-foot tall, which means she's taller than you. I know, sad because now I can make fun of you again for being the shortest."

"Fine," Alice sighed. "She's taller than me. I can't call you shorty anymore."

I smiled. "I'll make a deal with you. I won't call you pixie anymore, okay? That way it's fair."

She held her hand out. "Deal."

"Well, now that that's over, Cole, your dinner is ready," Mom said, holding a plate. "Dining room or in here?"

"Let's go to the dining room," Dad said. "Cole has something to share with you all, actually."

I smiled. "I got a letter today."

"What did it say?" Mom asked, walking behind me toward the dining room.

I sat down at the table along with everyone else. "I uh, have an interview with Yale."

She lit up and set my plate down, wrapping her arms around me. "That's great, honey!"

"Way to go, Coley!" Emmett said.

"Congratulations, Cole," Jasper said, smiling, nodding his head. "You'll have no issues getting in."

"Thanks, you guys."

"I knew it," Alice said, smirking. "I saw you opening the letter. I believe crying was involved, yes?"

I blushed. "Maybe a little."

"Aww, Cole," Rose said. "Why did you cry?"

"Because my dream of getting into Yale might come true."

"What did I tell you, sweetie?" Mom asked. "You're going to get into every school you applied to."

I smiled. "Sure, Mom."

"Listen to your mom," Dad said, smiling. "She's always right."

* * *

I went to bed early on Christmas Eve, knowing Emmett would be waking me up before the sun was up. I was right, too. At five o'clock in the morning, a hand patted my face. I opened my eyes to find his face just centimeters from mine. It scared me half to death. I even screamed as he yelled "Merry Christmas" a little too loudly. Dad, of course, came in and got on Emmett about how he did it, telling him to apologize to me. Emmett did, but he still pulled me out of bed and set me on my feet. I was wide awake from the screaming.

After having my human moments, which Emmett let me have only after Dad pulled him out of my room, I headed downstairs to find everyone gathered around the massive tree. I sat down on the floor between Dad and Rose.

"I think Emmett should have to wait until everyone else has opened their gifts before opening his," I said. "It should be his punishment for about scaring me to death."

"Hey, I was just messing with you, Coley," Emmett said.

"We'll do what we always do — go in a circle, starting with Cole," Mom said, passing me a gift.

We did Mom and Dad's gifts to everyone first. I got a new iPod, clothes, a Coach purse, and a few picture frames. Alice also got a few new purses and gift cards. Rose got a little box with keys in it, as well as an envelope. Inside the envelope was a picture. They got her a really old Mustang to rebuild, but it wasn't here. It was being shipped and, unfortunately, wouldn't make it in time, but they at least got the keys for her to open. She was so excited. She and Emmett decided that they'd come back in March, after spending a little more time alone, and she'd restore it then. They even said they'd stay through summer, which had me so excited. It was like a gift in itself. But then, Jasper and Alice said they'd come back, too. I literally squealed and hugged all of them so tightly.

After all the squealing was done, we went back to opening gifts. Jasper received a few books and an antique knife from the middle east. He loved that kind of stuff since it held so much history. Emmett got season tickets for next year for the Seahawks. He then started laughing and handed Dad his gift. He wound up getting Dad the same thing. They both looked at Alice and she fell back and laughed really hard, saying she didn't know how to tell either of them without ruining the surprise for them. She said it'd give us a good laugh anyway, which it did. They decided Dad would "gift" his to someone and get season tickets for the Mariners. That way, they could go to baseball games, too.

"Okay, I'll give you guys my gifts now," I said, passing Emmett a box.

He tore it open quickly and pulled out the jersey, grinning like a fool. "An autographed Joe Montana jersey?" he asked. "Thanks a lot, Coley! You know just what I like," he laughed.

"You're going to wear it, aren't you?" I asked.

He nodded and put it on over his shirt. "Hell yes!"

I laughed. "I'm pretty sure it's like, supposed to be kept in really good condition."

He shrugged. "Eh, I'll wear it now, and then keep it safe. I promise."

"No, you know, taking down bears in it, okay?"

He laughed. "I won't."

I gave Jasper his gift next, and he said he really liked it — that he didn't have that book. I made sure to ask Alice first, of course, so I wasn't surprised. Rose and Alice were both thrilled with their gifts and said they'd use it soon.

"I think Paris is nice in the spring,"I said.

"Oh, it is," Alice said, nodding. "We'll have a great time, and you should really come with."

I shook my head. "This is for you guys. We can go somewhere over the summer or something."

"Of course," Rose said. "Thank you, Cole."

"Thanks, sweetie," Alice said.

"You're both welcome." I smiled, picking up Dad's gift. "I hope you'll use it."

"I'm sure I will," he said. "Let's see what we have here."

He slid his finger under one flap of the wrapping paper and effortlessly tore it open. When he looked at the box, he smiled kindly.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yes, baby, I love it," he said.

"Do you think you'll use it? I just figured that since you read so much and buy lots of books, a Kindle would be nice. One little thing to carry around instead of a few books."

He nodded. "It's perfect for me. You'll have to help me set it up with some good, new books."

I smiled. "I can't wait."

"Thank you so much, tesoro," he said, wrapping his arm around me and kissing my head.

"You're welcome, Daddy."

I passed Mom her gifts next. She absolutely adored them. She thought the statute was perfect, and the bracelet beautiful. She held the bracelet out to me, and I put it on her wrist for her.

"Thank you so much, honey," she said, hugging me and kissing my head. "I love them."

"I'm glad," I said. "You're very welcome."

Alice and Jasper got Mom and Dad tickets to Switzerland, which complemented Rose and Emmett's gift of a week stay in a luxury hotel. They planned to go skiing in the Alps, which they both enjoyed. Jasper got Alice jewelry, and Alice got him a trip to Texas — she said she'd pick the perfect time to go, when it was rainy. He was excited to get to go back there. Emmett and Rose got each other a vacation on a private island in the Caribbean, since Mom's island was currently in use my Josh and Rico.

"Your turn, Cole," Rose said. "We all went in on a gift for you."

"Oh, yeah?" I smiled. "Whatcha get me?"

She passed me an envelope with a bow onto. "Alice said you'll like it."

I slid my finger under the flap and opened it, pulling out a letter. It was actually a receipt. I read it carefully. My eyes filled with tears as I realized what it was for.

"We all know how you wish no one would ever have to go through what you did," Jasper said. "So we donated five-hundred thousand dollars, in your name, to RAINN. They were... very appreciative."

I wiped my tears as I looked at the paper. RAINN stood for, Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network. They were a support for victims. "That's... thank you."

Rose and Dad rubbed my back. "The money goes towards helping victims get the help they need. Help you should have gotten sooner," Rose said.

"I did get help, Rose. I got this family, but this is amazing. I wish everyone could have support like I have, but I know that's not possible. This will help, though."

She nodded. "Exactly. They really do help people. Mom and I make a yearly donation, too."

I smiled. "Can I make a yearly donation?"

"Of course, tesoro," Dad said. "We'll set it up for next year. This year, I'm sure, this was a great help."

"Thank you all so much for this. It's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten."

"You're welcome," they all said, smiling as I wiped a few more tears.

We finished the morning off with Dad giving Mom his gifts. She loved the necklace and picture with the frame. She said it was so perfect. As I started to put my things in one of my boxes to take upstairs, Dad stopped me.

"I believe you've missed one," he said, smiling as he handed me a little box.

I smirked. "I didn't miss it. You kept it from me."

He chuckled. "Maybe. Now, open it."

I ripped the pretty wrapping paper off and found a small box. It was a ring box from Tiffany's — which had become my favorite jewelry place. I pulled the lid off and tilted the box until the actually ring box came out. I opened the lid and found a gorgeous ring. It was a band made of hearts. Every other one had diamonds embedded in the heart. It was just so beautiful. I quickly slid it on my finger and smiled.

"I love it," I said.

Dad kissed my cheek. "Merry Christmas, Cole. Thank you so much for being our daughter — for being a part of this family. You're the heart of this family, baby girl."

* * *

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to try to work on the next chapter of LRtS now, along with my new fic Fatherhood, Formula, and Other F Words. Check it out if you haven't. It's Edward and Bella.

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	62. 6th Outtake

**A/N: **I made a horrible mistake of not including more Esme in this story. I'm trying to make up for it in Love Remains the Same, but I hope you'll all like this treat.

**Thanks,**** Gretchen for reading this as I wrote it. Me loves you!**

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Before Cole's sixteenth birthday.

Summary: Sometimes, a girl just needs her mom. Cole is having a hard time and Esme is the one to help her through.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

**Esme's POV**

Sometimes, Cole just had bad days. They would sometimes start slowly, building over a few days before it became too much, and sometimes, they'd just . . . happen. She would go from being happy, and then she'd shut down. I hated when this happened because there was really nothing Carlisle or I could do to help. No one could help because she didn't want it.

I understood, because I had bad days too, but it hurt me to see her like this. It hurt Carlisle so much, too. Today was one of those days. Actually, it had been going on for days. This time it built slowly. She was worse every day.

"Cole isn't awake yet?" Carlisle asked, coming into the kitchen as I started breakfast. He had just gotten home from a night shift, which he hated doing.

I shook my head. "I'm just going to let her sleep, but I wanted to go ahead and make her something to eat when she got up. She likes cinnamon buns."

He smiled sadly, coming close to kiss me. "She does," he said. "I'm going to . . . check on her. It's past ten, and she never sleeps this late."

"She needs it, Carlisle. I think we should leave her alone. She'll come to us when she's ready."

He sighed, running his hand over his face. "It's been days, _amore_. I _hate_ seeing her hurting like this. Maybe we should call Emily and get Cole in to see her now."

"She goes next week, though."

"But she isn't talking!" he sighed, exasperatedly. "She needs to get out of her head and _talk _about what's going on. Keeping it bottled up isn't healthy. I won't risk her getting so down it harms her."

"Well, it's Saturday. Let's just give her until Monday, okay? If she's no better by then, we'll call Emily."

He pulled me close, nuzzling his nose in my hair, taking a deep breath. "All right, but I'm calling first thing Monday if there's no change."

I lifted his head, smiling at him. "Okay. Now, when do you have to be back at work?"

The hospital was short staffed at the moment, so he had been working more than usual. He didn't like spending the time away from home — especially with how Cole had been — but he had no choice.

"Tonight," he said. "I came home to 'sleep'," he smirked, "so I'm going hunting. It's been too long." His eyes were coal black.

"Yes, it has been. Are you staying close?"

"I'm going to head into Canada. I'll be back in a few hours, spend some time with you and Cole, and then go back to the hospital. This massive rain storm is causing so many accidents, and there's no end in sight. I just wish people would heed the warning and stop driving in it."

"Humans," I laughed, "they never know what's good for them."

He smiled, kissing my cheek. "Exactly. I'm going to change, check on Cole — won't wake her up, promise — and then head out. I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

Cole finally trudged downstairs around noon. Though she had been asleep plenty long enough, I knew it wasn't very productive. Nightmares had been plaguing her. Thankfully, they weren't the scream out crying ones, but I knew they were terrible all the same. She still looked exhausted. Her hair was a mess — she hadn't even tried to tame it — and she wore one of Carlisle's massive t-shirts on her tiny frame. It fell past her knees.

"Good afternoon, sweetie," I said, kissing her cheek. "I made cinnamon rolls. I can reheat one for you, if you'd like."

She shook her head, walking past me to the fridge. "I'm not hungry," she said, grabbing a bottle of water. "I have homework to do anyway."

"That can wait until tomorrow. Do you want to go do something? It's going to get colder soon. We can go shopping."

She just looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Shopping? Really?"

"Or go to a bookstore in Seattle. Whatever you'd like. Do you need anything?"

She shrugged. "Maybe a bookstore? I don't know. I really don't want to get out, though."

"It'll be good for you. Dad won't be home until this evening. He's going to Canada to hunt."

"Does he have to work again tonight?" she asked, sitting down at the island. I grabbed a cereal bar for her, hoping she'd eat it.

"Yes, but he'll be home for a few hours before he has to go back in."

She unwrapped the bar, biting off a piece. She nodded as she chewed. "I guess we can go to Seattle, but it's pouring outside." She looked past me, out to the deck that was being hammered with rain.

I smiled. "I think I can manage to drive in rain."

"Dad might not be happy," she laughed dryly.

"He'll live," I laughed.

"All right, I'll go get dressed."

"Okay, honey."

She left the half eaten cereal bar on the island and went back upstairs. I cleaned it up, wishing she had eaten more. Carlisle wouldn't be thrilled, knowing how little she had eaten. She barely ate lately. It was her depression, and I couldn't stand it. I hoped getting her out of the house would help. A new book would do her good, I prayed. Really, I hoped she'd maybe talk to me — would confide in me.

When Cole came back down, her hair was tied in a bun with her bangs clipped back — no makeup. She wore a plain hoodie and jeans, still looking exhausted. It was her depression that made her look so tired; though, not sleeping well added to it.

"Are you ready?" I asked, smiling as I grabbed my purse off the hook.

She nodded. "Yep."

* * *

Knowing I had a long drive to talk to Cole, I started off simple. I didn't want to rush in to asking her what was really going on, so I asked her about her birthday, which was coming up in a few weeks. She'd be sixteen. Her second birthday with us, and a very important milestone.

"What kind of party would you like?" I asked, looking over and smiling. "Sweet sixteen?"

"Yeah, no thank you," she said. "Just something small with you guys is fine. Really, I don't even need a party."

"Well, it's your birthday. You're getting a party."

"I know." She smiled.

"Have you thought about what you want? Besides a car, of course. Your father is handling that one."

"Is he getting me a tank, like Emmett suggest?"

I laughed. "No, I told him that wasn't allowed."

"I don't know, Mom. I don't really need anything."

"A new laptop maybe?"

"Mine's not even two years old."

"But they've come out with new software. Your dad had to upgrade his a little while back."

She shrugged. "I guess that's fine, but I don't _really _need it."

"It's a birthday gift. You don't have to need it. You can want things, Cole."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I can want a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I get them."

I looked over, creasing my brow. "What does that mean?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, Mom."

"No, not 'nothing, Mom'. What did that mean? Cole, Dad and I know something is wrong. Please, tell me what that meant."

"I don't want to talk about it. I'll be better, I swear."

"I'm not asking you to just get better, honey. I'm asking you to tell me what's going on so we _can_ get you better. You don't have to do things alone anymore."

I could smell the tears forming in her eyes before they began running down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, turning her face to the side so I couldn't see.

"I'm fine," she said in a broken voice.

I reached over, taking her hand. "You're not, though. You can say that. You can lie, but I know the truth. Your dad knows the truth, and he's calling Emily Monday morning, if you're still like this."

Her head snapped back to me, wide-eyes looking at me. "I'm not allowed to have bad days without you guys involving my therapist?"

"You've had a bad week, sweetie. A bad day happens. I know, but this is more. Tell me what's going on."

She looked down at her lap. "I was asked to homecoming."

"Oh, but that's good, right?"

She shook her head. "No, because I can't go. I mean, it's not like I'd even _want_ to go with this guy, but it'd be nice if I could go with someone."

"Why can't you? Dad would let you go, if you wanted."

She scoffed. "Yeah right. But that's not why, Mom."

"Then why?"

"I panic if someone bumps into me at school," she said, sniffling. "Guys . . . they scare me to death. I'll never be able to date. I'll never be able to . . . have a first kiss — a real one."

"Oh," I said, understanding what was going on.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I can't get Mark or those boys out of my head. They ruined me. They ruined my life."

She sobbed, putting her face in her hands. I quickly made a U-turn, but the water on the road caused me to hydroplane. Cole screamed as the car went head first into a shallow ditch. My hand shot out and held her to her seat.

"It's fine," I said, taking a breath, lowering my hand. "I'm sorry. I couldn't correct it with the rain on the road."

She nodded, panting. "Whoa."

"I know," I said, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the ditch. Thankfully, it wasn't deep enough for us to be stuck.

Carlisle was going to be furious. I couldn't believe I had done that. _Never _in all the years I had been driving had I almost gotten into an accident. I turned too quickly, putting too much trust into the tires to make the turn on wet roads. I just wanted to get Cole home, though. It would be easier to talk to her there. I could hold her when she cried.

"Are you all right?" I asked. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"I am _so_ sorry, Cole."

"It was the rain, Mom. It's fine. I'm fine."

I sighed, taking hold of her hand again. "Let's go home, okay? I think we've had plenty of excitement."

"Yeah, no more crazy U-turns, okay?"

I smirked. "Yes, dear daughter."

As we drove back, I kept her hand in mine, knowing she was still hurting. Her tears dried, but I knew they weren't over. I understood the pain of believing you could never be touched by a man. I understood she wished she could have that, if only to dance at homecoming or prom.

It didn't take us long to get home, and I was honestly happy we hadn't driven to Seattle. The rain wasn't letting up and if this kept up much longer, flooding could be an issue. I really just wanted to get Cole out of the house and make her happy, but today wasn't the day for that. We could go to the bookstore when we were in Seattle for her appointment with Emily later on this week. I hoped Cole could talk to me more and prevent an emergency appointment.

"Any chance you're hungry?" I asked as she hung her raincoat up.

She shook her head. "Sorry."

I smiled sadly, putting my arm over her shoulder. "Okay, let's go upstairs and talk."

"Do we have to?"

I nodded. "Yes. Your bedroom or mine?"

She sighed. "Mine. Maybe I'll fall asleep on you, and you'll take pity and not wake me up."

I laughed softly, kissing her cheek. "My bedroom, then."

I went into my room as she went into hers to change into sweatpants — just something comfortable. I sat on my large bed and waited. After a few minutes, she walked in and climbed up, sitting next to me.

"Go ahead," she said. "Tell me how eventually I won't be afraid and everything will be better."

I scooted around to face her, lifting her chin up. "I can't say that because it wouldn't be accurate," I said. "I do believe that one day, when you're ready, you'll find someone who doesn't frighten you. But everything will never just be better. I have bad days too, sweetie."

"Really?" she asked, disbelievingly.

I nodded. "They don't happen often, if that tells you anything. But they do happen. Different things affect me, though. Mostly, the loss of my son. But my first husband still haunts me from time to time."

"Have you had a bad day since you've had me?"

"Yes."

"Why couldn't I tell?"

I caressed her cheek, smiling softly. "Because I don't want you to see that. I don't want your dad to see it either, but he finds me. He holds me if that's what I need, or gives me space, letting me know he's there."

"I just wanna be normal, Mom," she cried. "Why can't I be?"

"There is _no_ such thing as normal. We're all different. You have a _very _dark past. You've gone through things I don't want to imagine. But do you realize how far you've come? How different you are from that timid girl we found in an alley?"

"Maybe I just hide it better."

I wiped her cheeks. "Now, we both know that's not true."

"So I'm a little better . . . s_ometimes._ I want to always be better, Mommy. I wanna be like everyone else."

"But then you wouldn't be my Cole." I smiled. "You are so caring. Do you know that? You're the sweetest girl, and I don't think everyone else is like that. Your past is a part of you. It always will be, but it doesn't have to define you. If you want to go to homecoming, _go_."

She shrugged. "I don't really want to. It's really not my thing."

"Then what's got you so down?"

"The future," she whispered. "No one could ever love someone like me, because I'll never let them."

"I thought the same thing about your father."

"You did?"

I nodded. "I constantly questioned why he saved me. What could he see in me? He's this . . . amazing man, and I didn't feel worthy."

"But you're perfect together."

"He's my soul mate, but it took time for me to realize that. It took time for me to let him in. He loved me since I was sixteen — when we first met."

"When you pulled a Cole and broke your leg," she giggled.

I laughed. "Best broken bone I ever had. I loved him too, you know? He stayed with me — in my heart. He was my dream. I spent nights, praying for him to come save me when I was with Charles. And then I got pregnant, and I knew I couldn't keep praying. I left to give my little boy a chance."

"I'm so sorry, Mom," she cried. "That wasn't fair."

Venom prickled my eyes. "No, it wasn't. And your life wasn't fair, either. We didn't have a say in what happened to us, honey, but we have a say in how we overcome it."

"I'm trying so hard."

I pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "And you're doing so well."

"Every time I get down, I feel like I've failed you guys."

I shook my head. "You haven't. It's all a part of the healing process. But good days or bad, we're always going to be here for you. Talking to us would be a big help, though."

She shrugged. "I didn't know how to start this — how to tell you this. And I certainly didn't want to talk to Dad about it."

I laid down with her. "I can understand that."

"I just wish I wasn't so . . . closed off. I don't know what my future holds, but, for some reason, I don't think it'll ever include falling in love."

"Never say never, Cole."

She scoffed. "That's . . . lame," she laughed.

I smiled, playing with her hair. "I suppose so, but you never know what the future holds."

"Yeah, and I don't even know if I want that. I want to be a doctor, but that's all I'm sure of."

"Work towards that, then. You may literally stumble into love one day. You can't go looking for it."

"I'm not ready for it."

"No, you're not, but I hope you will be someday."

"Yeah, someday might be nice." She sighed, snuggling into me, closing her eyes.

"Tired?" I asked.

"Exhausted. I've been having more nightmares." She sounded so ashamed of that.

"I know."

She popped her eyes open. "How? I haven't been screaming, have I?"

"No, but it's not hard to tell. You've been sleeping a lot, but it hasn't been productive."

"It's been terrible, but I just close my eyes again, hoping it will be better. It hasn't been."

"Well, go to sleep. Maybe it'll be better now. Do you feel a little better?"

"Like a weight has been lifted off my chest."

I smiled, kissing her once more. "Good. I'm here. Go to sleep."

I pulled a throw from the bottom of the bed up, covering her. She nestled back into me and closed her eyes again. I held her as she drifted to sleep, not daring to move. It seemed to be peaceful, so I had no plans of disrupting it. I listened to her heart beat, to her breathing for hours, not realizing time was passing so quickly. Day had turned into night, and the glimmer of light went away, leaving us in complete darkness.

I was brought back to reality when Carlisle walked into the room. He smiled sadly, noticing Cole in my arms.

"She's better," I whispered.

He climbed into bed on the other side of her, sliding his arm under her head and my shoulders. "She talked?"

"After attempting to take her to Seattle and almost wrecking the car, yes."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"We hydroplaned, but it was fine. It was my fault. I tried to make a U-turn. I'm sorry, Carlisle."

"No accident, though, right? She's fine?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"And you're okay? I'm sure that was frightening."

I sighed. "It was. I couldn't believe I made such a big mistake."

He lifted his hand, caressing my cheek. "Accidents happen, but I'm having your tires replaced."

I smiled, laughing softly. "I'm sure that'd be a good idea. I was worried you'd be furious."

"Never, love. You would have protected her, even if it had resulted in an accident."

"Maybe check her stomach later? My hand shot out and held her to the seat pretty firmly."

"I'll check, but you wouldn't have hurt her. Why Seattle?"

"I thought the drive would be good for talking, and she'd like a new book, I'm sure."

"We'll get her one when we go later this week."

"She likes the big bookstore. More medical text books," I said, winking.

"I'm sure my library had plenty of those, but she likes finding her own new ones."

"That she does."

"So," he said, playing with my hair, "what's going on?"

I went on to tell him what we had spoken about. He was a little uneasy with the idea of Cole wanting to someday be open to love, but we both knew that wouldn't be happening for a while. He could worry then.

"I'll put any guy who wants a chance with her through hell. You know that, right?" he asked, smirking.

"Oh, play nice," I teased.

"He has to be deserving. I'll make sure he is."

I shook my head, laughing softly. "Of course you will."

Our laughter caused Cole to wake up. Well, somewhat. She rolled over to Carlisle, putting her arm over him.

He smirked, kissing her head softly. "She'll always be a daddy's girl," he said.

"Yes, she will."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked the outtake. I promise a LRtS update soon, but I'm not sure when. Saying goodbye to Will is so hard for me. LOL.

**Please Review…**


	63. 7th Outtake

**A/N: **I wrote this outtake for Gretchen's birthday back in July. Printed it, had bound, and gave it to her in person when we saw each other. She's one of my best friends in the world, and she loves things like this. I hope you'll all enjoy, too.

Outtake- She is Love

Time frame- Near the end of Cole's sophomore year in high school.

Summary: Just some sweet Carlisle comfort.

**Small disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any characters from it. I just play with them.**

* * *

**Carlisle**

"Can we move yet?" I asked softly, running my hand through Cole's hair as she sat in my lap, resting her fevered cheek against my chest. We were still in her bathroom after she threw up about ten minutes ago.

"Not yet," she whispered, holding her stomach as she snuggled her head into my chest more.

It looked to me like the nasty stomach bug that had been making its way around town recently. I felt awful for her, knowing it was only going to get worse before it got better. I had been swamped with this bug at work for the past few weeks and many of the patients had been admitted due to dehydration. Thankfully, I had a few days off because Esme, Rose, and Emmett had planned a trip to South America for hunting with Josh, Alice, and Jasper, so I could take care of Cole through this. I would have to run to the hospital for some Zofran and more fluids, though.

"I'm so sorry, _Tesoro_." I kissed her forehead.

"It's not your—" She hurried off of my lap and put her face over the toilet, vomiting whatever she had left in her stomach.

I held her hair for her and rubbed her back as she continued. When I had come home from work this afternoon, I found Cole in bed and immediately knew she was ill. Only moments after I kissed her cheek and felt her forehead, we wound up in here. I could already tell it was going to be a long night and she'd be staying home from school tomorrow. Thankfully, tomorrow was Friday and she'd most likely be better by Monday. Her sophomore year was coming to a close, so I didn't want her to miss too much.

"I think . . . I think I'm done," she said as I wiped her mouth with a tissue.

"Okay, then how about you brush your teeth and get you back in bed?"

She looked at me with sad eyes. "I threw up on it, remember? Can I go downstairs with you? I'm not gonna be able to sleep anyway."

I nodded. "All right, I'll get you settled down there and clean up your bed for tonight, but I want you to try and rest. I need to run to the hospital and get some fluids and medications, but I'll be as quick as I can."

I helped her stand and walk over to the sink. "Please hurry. This won't last long, right?"

"In most patients, it's been lasting about twenty-four to forty-eight hours, which is why dehydration has been so severe that we've been admitting. I'll help you through it as easily as I can."

"Okay."

"Are you good in here, or do you want me to stay?"

"I'm just gonna brush my teeth, and then I'll go downstairs."

I kissed her forehead. "All right, I'll go make up the couch and strip your bed. I love you, baby girl."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Leaving her to brush her teeth, I made quick work of grabbing pillows and clean blankets for downstairs. I made up the sectional for her and grabbed a small trash can to put beside it before running back upstairs and stripping her bed of the soiled blankets. Knowing she had dozens of sheet sets, I tossed the soiled ones and put her comforter into the washer. By the time I was done with that, she was walking downstairs.

"Okay, I want you to stay on this couch for me until I get back," I said as she got comfortable and I pulled the blanket up on her. "Well, unless you get sick. There's a trash can here for you, but if you can make it to the bathroom, try to. I'm going to get you some water with an Alka-Seltzer tablet, which I'd like you to sip slowly. I'd like to try and keep you from getting dehydrated, so I don't _have _to put in an IV."

She nodded as I handed her the remote. "I'll do anything to prevent _that_."

I smiled and kissed her forehead again, letting my lips linger for a moment to check her temperature. It seemed the same, but I planned to check her out a little more thoroughly once I got back, just to be sure nothing else was going on.

Once I made the drink for her, I left for the hospital.

* * *

I drove a little more quickly than I should have, wanting to get back to Cole as soon as I could. I _really _didn't like leaving her alone when she was sick. I worried she'd vomit and become dizzy, passing out and hitting her head. She knew her limits, though, so hopefully she'd listen to her body and sit if she needed to, rather than walking back to the living room.

"Dr. Cullen, you're back," Linda said, smiling as I made my way through the ER.

"Cole has the dreaded gastrointestinal infection," I sighed. "I'm going to sign out some Zofran, grab fluids, and an IV kit for her. I'd rather keep her home and treat her."

"Aww, poor girl. I'm sure you'll take great care of her, though."

I smiled lightly. "I'll do my best. I want to get back home since she's alone, but I hope you have a good weekend, and I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Bye, Dr. Cullen. Tell Cole I hope she feels better."

Once I left the nurses' station, I ran into the medication lock up and grabbed the antiemetic before going to the supply closet for the fluids and IV kits. I had plenty at home, but a few more to replace the ones I may have to use would be good.

I made it out of the hospital in about five minutes, and then sped back home as quickly as I could. When I walked into the house, I instantly knew Cole was in the downstairs bathroom before hearing her chocking. I rushed in, finding her over the toilet.

"Oh, baby," I sighed, rubbing her back.

"It won't stop," she whimpered. "I just want it to stop."

This had been the third bout in about an hour, so I wasn't hopeful that she'd get through this easily. No, I could already tell she'd feel the full force of this illness, and my heart ached for her.

"I'm going to get your toothbrush and bring it down here, all right?" I asked, helping her onto the floor. She sat against the wall near the toilet and wiped her mouth as I flushed the toilet.

She nodded. "Yeah. You're gonna give me medicine, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, Zofran. It's a tablet, but if you can't keep it down, I have it in IV form, as well."

"Oh, goodie," she groaned.

After getting her toothbrush and letting her brush, I helped her back into the living room and onto the sectional. She looked pale and exhausted, which of course was normal. I grabbed the medication for her, and she took it with a sip of water before I performed a quick examination.

"Tell me if it hurts when I press anywhere, all right?" I asked, lowering my hands over her small belly.

She nodded and I began palpitating. She didn't feel any pain, and everything thing went along with my original diagnosis. Once I was finished taking her temperature, I moved her legs and sat down, laying them back over my lap.

"So, what would you like to watch, _Tesoro_?" I asked, tickling the bottom of her foot softly.

She let out a quiet giggle and wiggled her toes. "I don't care. You pick. Don't you have some documentary recorded?"

I nodded, taking the remote and pulling up our recordings. "I do, so that's okay with you? There will be blood."

"Eh, it's fine. I'll probably close my eyes anyway." She shrugged.

I lifted her hand, kissing her knuckle softly. "That's a good idea, baby girl. Try and rest."

As the medical documentary began playing, Cole closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into the couch. She had fallen asleep for only a few minutes before groaning and wiggling out of the blankets. In anticipation, I grabbed the trash can and placed it under her chin.

"I _really _don't wanna," she moaned before heaving, though nothing came up yet.

I rubbed her back softly. "You'll feel better, _Tesoro._ I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, but lost the medication and water into the bin moments later. I knew her throat had to be getting sore and adding that to the pain of vomiting, she had to be miserable.

After calming her down and cleaning up, I let Cole rest for a few minutes before going upstairs to grab the IV kit, fluids, and IV Zofran. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to keep the medication down and this was the only option. When I returned with the items in my hands, Cole frowned and her eyes filled with tears.

"It's only been a few hours," she said. "Please, can't you wait? I'll try the pill again and maybe I'll be able to keep it down. Please, Daddy?"

I sighed, laying the items on the coffee table. "I've seen this illness in many patients, baby girl. It's not going to stop any time soon."

"Well, then just don't do it yet. It's inevitable, right? So, give me a little while longer without an IV in my hand. I _hate _those. They're so annoying."

She had a point. A little while longer wouldn't change much, though I didn't like leaving her without a source of hydration. "Let's wait a half hour without putting anything in your stomach, and then we'll try the pill again, okay? When you throw it up — because I'm quite certain you will — I'll put in the IV."

"Give me an hour?" she asked, batting her wet eyelashes.

I chuckled softly, moving her legs to sit down again beside her. "I think I've compromised enough, don't you?"

"It's just an hour."

I smiled and took her hand, caressing the top of it. "Oh, all right," I sighed.

She sat up and kissed my cheek. "Thank you, Daddy."

I resumed the documentary as Cole asked questions about the surgery we were watching. It was an extremely large tumor removal — one of the largest ever recorded — and she was very much interested. It was nice to be able to share this with her, knowing she found it as intriguing as I did.

My daughter wanted to be a doctor like me, and that made me immensely proud.

"You have others recorded, right?" she asked as it ended. "Maybe something heart related?"

I nodded, flipping through all of my recordings and bypassing Esme's cooking shows. "Heart transplant?"

"Sounds good to me." She smiled softly, moving herself on the couch to lean against me.

She laid a pillow against my arm and rested her head as the show started. I put my arm around her, holding her close and kissing the top of her head. Though I certainly didn't like her being sick, I did enjoy the quality time we were spending together. With the school year coming to a close and my busy work schedule as of late, I hadn't seen as much of her as I'd have liked. I missed her, and I knew she missed me, too. The daily texts every morning cemented that.

A little while into the show — before it got to the part Cole was most interested in — I checked my watch and found over an hour had passed. "All right, time for the pill," I said.

She groaned softly, anticipating the vomiting that would probably occur. "Fine."

I kissed her forehead before going upstairs to retrieve the pill. She took it with the tiniest sip of water possible before lying back down in her original spot. I turned the TV back on, and not but ten minutes later, paused as Cole gagged on the minuscule amount of water and pill.

"All right, go brush, and then I'll put the IV in," I said, frowning and helping her up. I didn't want to do this to her just as much as she didn't want me to.

After taking a little while longer than necessary in the bathroom, Cole came back into the living room and plopped onto the couch with a sigh. I pulled the coffee table close, situating the items before pulling on gloves.

"I'll let you pick which hand," I said, holding the alcohol swab.

"Wow," she huffed, letting a small smirk play on her lips as she gave me her left hand.

I laid it across my knee, wiping the top of her hand thoroughly before picking up the catheter and needle. "Okay, quick pinch. I'll be done in a second."

I gently slid the needle in, leaving the catheter in place before pulling it back out. She flinched slightly, but it didn't seem to cause her too much pain. Once it was taped down, I pushed the Zofran slowly, and then set up fluids, hooking the bag to the lamp behind her. I turned the switch on, knowing the heat from the lamp would warm the fluids up a little. She shivered from the cool saline solution slowly dripping into her vein.

"All right, let's finish this show, and then you can pick whatever you'd like to watch," I said, smiling after returning from cleaning up.

I sat down, and she put one of her pillows in my lap before laying her head down. I situated the IV line for her, so she wasn't tangled up in it. She sighed contentedly as I ran my hand through her hair.

* * *

Cole had drifted to sleep during the heart surgery documentary, so I turned the television down low and absentmindedly watched whatever was on. I was so worried about her, even though I knew she'd probably get through this fine. I just hated seeing my baby girl sick and miserable. She held her stomach as she fell asleep, and I knew she was in pain, but giving her pain medication on an empty stomach wouldn't have been a good idea. It would just make her even sicker.

I did my best to soothe her as she moaned in her sleep, griping my knee with her small hand and getting a fist full of my pant material. Around ten in the evening, my phone rang, and I quickly answered it so it wouldn't wake her.

"Hello?" I asked, not bothering to check the name.

"Carlisle? Can you hear me?" Esme asked, her voice crackling. "I'm at the airport, but I have an awful signal and it's just going to get worse."

"I can hear you, _amore,_" I whispered. "I'm afraid Cole has come down with that gastrointestinal infection. She's sleeping right now."

"Oh, no! Do you need me to come home?"

"No, by the time you could get here, she'd already be better. I'm taking care of her."

"Of course you are. Poor girl. Give her a kiss for me and tell her I love her, all right? My recipe for chicken noodle soup is in the box, along with vegetable soup. Do you think you can handle making it for her when she's up to eating?"

I chuckled softy. "I'm sure I can manage somehow. Are you all about to start your hunting?"

"Yes, we're leaving the airport in a moment. I'll try to get to a phone in the morning to check on her, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'm sure Alice will keep you up to date on what's happening now that she knows to look."

"I will, and I _may _have seen this coming," Alice said, taking the phone from Esme. "You and Cole needed some alone time anyway, and I knew that if I warned you, Esme wouldn't come and she _needs _this trip, Carlisle. Trust me. It'll do her good."

"I'm sure it will. Cole and I will manage just fine, but . . . how does tonight look?"

"Eh, not great, I'm afraid. The Zofran will wear off and since you can't give her anymore yet, she's going to have a rough night. But you being there for her and taking care of her is the best thing you can do."

I nodded to myself, looking down at Cole. Oh, this was just going to be awful. "I'll do what I can. Now, may I speak to my wife once more?"

"Sure! Love you and tell Cole we love her, too. Bye!"

"Well, I'm a little upset she didn't tell us," Esme said.

I chuckled. "Don't be. You need this trip, and I've got Cole covered. I mean, I believe I'm qualified, what with my many medical degrees."

"Cuddle her for me, too. A medical degree can't teach you that," she giggled.

"I'm already cuddling. She has her head in my lap and her hand gripping my knee. I've got my arm securely around her."

"Good, give her a kiss for me. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too, darling. Have a good time and try not to worry too much about Cole."

After hanging up the phone, time passed while Cole slept peacefully. At least she was getting some rest now, since it sounded like she wouldn't tonight. Even if the Zofran stopped working like Alice said, I couldn't give Cole another dose until twelve hours after the last one, which would be around seven in the morning.

"Ugh," Cole groaned, turning in her sleep to face the back of the couch.

I softly massaged the top of her head while running my fingers through her hair, hoping to offer some comfort. She quieted soon after once more and was back in a deep sleep for the next three hours.

Just after one in the morning, Cole groaned again and blinked her eyes open, looking up at me as I smiled, comfortingly. "How are you doing?" I asked. "Would you like to get into bed?"

Like I figured, she shook her head as she sat up and said, "I'm nauseous again, Daddy."

She lifted the trash can off of the floor and let her head hover about it for a moment before dry heaving a few times . . . then bile came up. I knew the taste to be foul, as was the smell. I pushed water on her, and she sipped it slowly. But then that came up a few minutes later, too.

I carried her to the bathroom since I knew it wasn't over. I held her in my lap as she continued to dry heave into the toilet. Between bouts, she rested against my chest as I rubbed her back soothingly.

"I think I'm dying," she groaned.

I kissed the top of her head. "No, you're not. I can promise you that. It's just a _very _nasty stomach bug."

She lunged for the toilet again, but instead of nothing or bile coming up, a small amount of blood did. The lining of her stomach was irritated, as was her throat. If it hadn't been such a tiny amount, I would have been rushing her to the ER. If it continued, I would be.

"Oh, God!" she moaned.

"I know, baby girl. I know," I said.

We had now been in the bathroom for an hour, so I hoped this bout would end soon. After calming her down and having her suck on ice chips to help her parched mouth, she brushed her teeth and we went back into the living room. She curled up on my lap as I wrapped a blanket around her.

She needed her daddy to hold her right now, which of course I had no issues with.

"I love you, and Mom does, too," I said. "She called a few hours ago and said she'd call again in the morning to check on you."

She nodded against my chest, peeking her eyes up at me. "I love you, too. Thank you."

"Whatever for, _Tesoro_?" I caressed her fevered cheek, which was even warmer now — around one-oh-one, I guessed.

"Taking care of me, holding my hair back, letting me sleep in your lap . . . that stuff. It makes it a little easier."

I smiled. "Well, whatever I can do to make it easier, I will. Just say the word."

"Lay down, so I can lay on top of you? And maybe turn the TV up a little to distract me?"

"Of course."

I rearranged us on the couch, so she could lay against my chest. I flipped through the television guide and as I passed the health channel, she told me to stop. Apparently, _Untold Stories of the ER_ interested her. Of course it did, which made me smile.

She was _my _daughter, after all.

"You're weird," I teased as she watched the show.

She giggled. "No, I'm not. If I were, you would be, too. It's interesting, okay? And _Mystery Diagnosis _is on next, so don't even think about changing it."

"Middle of the night medical docudramas, huh?"

She shrugged. "I like 'em."

I caressed her back softly as we watched the television show, and I asked, "How does your belly feel?"

"Hurts, but I'm trying not to think about it. It's s'okay, Daddy."

"S'good," I chuckled.

* * *

Our night continued with trips to the bathroom every so often and watching television in between. She certainly did have a rough night, but I did everything I could to soothe her. At one point, I rubbed her belly softly to try and soothe the cramping. She said she liked that, so I continued. She drifted to sleep at five in the morning with a small smile on her lips from it.

I gave her another dose of Zofran when I was able to, which made her feel much better. Around nine, she got up and I drew her a bath. While she soaked, I started on the chicken noodle soup from Esme's recipe.

It was _much _harder than she made it look, let's just say.

"I have _zero _appetite," Cole said, coming into the kitchen in a new pair of pajama shorts that were pink and yellow plaid with a white t-shirt. She looked a little better with her hair in a bun and a wrap holding her bangs back from her face.

"I know, but hopefully you will tonight or tomorrow," I said. "We need to get some food in you soon, though. Will you taste this for me and see if it tastes edible?" I chuckled, lifting a spoon from the broth.

Her little nose crinkled in disdain, but she did it for me anyway. "More salt."

I nodded, adding a little more to the pot. "All right, well this needs to cook for a while, so how about getting back on the couch and trying to rest? I rearranged the blankets and pillows for you. You didn't get the IV port wet, right?"

"No, Daddy. I kept this hand above water. You're gonna give me more fluids, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, baby girl," I said, lifting her into my arms as she giggled softly.

I carried her back into the living room and laid her down on the blankets before getting my thermometer back out of my bag. Her temperature had risen some more, which I didn't like. It was partly from the warm bath, though.

After starting another bag of fluid, Cole and I looked through the movies on-demand and picked an animated one — _Meet the Robinsons. _I really enjoyed it, actually. It had a wonderful message. Of course, part way through the movie Cole drank some sprite and it didn't sit well. We were back in the bathroom once more, making it there _before _she threw up this time.

Mixed with the clear liquid was a little more blood. It still wasn't enough to make me take her to the hospital, but I worried endlessly. She just couldn't catch a break. Her stomach didn't want _anything _in it, it seemed.

"You're doing so well, you know that?" I asked, rubbing her belly as she curled up in my lap on the bathroom floor.

She scoffed, burying her face in my chest. "Right."

"No, you are. You're handling this better than most people would. You haven't really cried that much and you certainly aren't a whiner. You're brave, even when ill."

"I think _you're _delusional. I've been crying and whining a lot."

"I've seen much worse, I guess. You do like to cuddle, but I like that."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, holding me tighter. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, _Tesoro_."

Once we got back into the living room and situated once more — her feet in my lap again — my cell phone rang. I quickly passed the phone to Cole and let her talk to her mom. The words "I'm fine" and "don't worry" were said quite a few times from Cole. Esme was worrying, just like me. Only I was here to see Cole, and Esme just had to take our word for it. I knew she didn't like being away from our daughter at a time like this.

After telling her that I loved her, Esme hung up the phone to go back to enjoying her trip. I had a nagging feeling that she _wasn't _enjoying it, though, but I wished she would. It wasn't often that she could enjoy game like that.

"I wish you hadn't told her I was sick," Cole said, frowning.

"I won't keep secrets from your mom. It's not fair, and I wouldn't want her to do that to me. So, next time she calls, I'd like to report that you at least _tried _to eat. Will you attempt a small amount of soup for me tonight? Maybe after another dose of Zofran?"

"Blah," she said.

I smiled, reaching over to caress her cheek. "Pretty please?"

"You're going to make me, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm not going to force feed you, but you really need to try and eat, _Tesoro_. I'm not talking about any time soon, just later tonight."

She sighed, nodding. "All right, but when I blow chunks, I'm blaming you."

I chuckled, shaking my head as I tickled the bottom of her foot. "You can blame me."

* * *

Our day consisted of Cole napping on and off as I did some work that I had brought home. When she wasn't asleep and heard me dictating notes into my laptop, she listened. Yes, I should have been doing this alone to protect my patients' privacy, but there was nothing that Cole would hear that would compromise that and I used . It was mostly surgical notes and how my patients we're healing.

As I spoke, I looked up to find her watching me intently. "Is something wrong?" I asked, pausing my recorder.

She shook her head. "No, I just like listening to you. It's almost as good as watching you work. The words you use and everything . . . it fascinates me. I just wanna know what they mean, you know? I'd ask you to tell me, but I didn't want to interrupt you."

I smiled and closed my laptop, setting it on the coffee table where my feet were. "Well, you're not interrupting me. Ask away."

She repeated a few that she had heard, and I told her what they meant — certain structures in the body, medications, and procedures. Once she was done asking those questions, we got onto the topic of what to do in certain situations. It distracted her from her stomach pain and nausea, so I didn't mind sharing some knowledge with her — not that I ever did.

Unfortunately, how discuss was interrupted by another bout of dry heaving into the trash can . . . and then a bathroom trip that I wasn't allowed to follow for, like a few times before.

It all seemed never ending, though I knew it would. Hopefully by tomorrow she'd be feeling a lot better. I was crossing my fingers for that, actually. She looked so pitiful when she came back into the living room, plopping onto the couch. I reconnected the IV as she shot me a dirty look.

Well, adorable, but I was sure she didn't mean for it to be.

"I'm blaming you for this," she said. "You brought this thing home to me."

"I'm sorry, _Tesoro_," I said, grimacing. She was most likely right, though I knew a few kids at her school and suffered through it as well.

"And I can't even be mad at you!" she huffed dramatically. "You're taking such great care of me. I'm sorry. I'm just _soooooooo _over it, Daddy. My tummy hurts, my throat hurts, my . . . _behind_ hurts," she whispered. "Ugh. My whole body hurts!"

She was beginning to cry, so I sat back down beside her and pulled her into my lap, rocking her gently. I pressed my lips to her forehead, trying to show her all the love I could. I may not have been able to make her better right away, but she needed lots of love and care right now, too.

"You're going to be just fine," I whispered. "It'll all be over soon."

She whimpered in my arms, holding her stomach. "It hurts, Daddy."

Was it unethical and uncalled for? Yes, but I couldn't stand seeing her in pain. "I'm going to make it go away," I said. "Just lay down for me, and I'll be right back."

She curled onto her side on the couch as I ran up to my study to the drug lock up I had. I should _not _have been giving her this. I knew that full well, but it wasn't going to stop me. My baby was in pain, not only from cramping, but from all the vomiting, too.

I knew she could tolerate it, so I pulled out a vile of morphine and drew a _very _small dose into a syringe. It wasn't enough to do any type of harm to her, but would alleviate the pain and let her sleep, which was what she needed.

The syringe felt heavy in my hand as I walked back downstairs. I kept telling myself that I wouldn't do this if it weren't needed, but I would. For her, I'd do anything.

"What's that?" she asked as I kneeled down beside her, taking the IV tubing into my hand.

"Pain medicine." I smiled before pulling the cap off with my teeth. "It'll make you feel better."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you."

I injected it slowly, counting her breaths as I did — perfectly normal, of course. "Okay, now this will make you sleepy, and I don't want you to fight it. It _could _make you nauseous, but hopefully it won't. You're just going to rest and feel better for me, all right?"

She nodded. "Okay. What is it?"

I looked up at her as I injected the last of it. "Morphine, just a small dose, though. You shouldn't have any dangerous side effects from it."

"That seems extreme."

I shrugged, recapping the needle. "A little, but I can't stand seeing you in pain and the only other narcotics I have are tablets, which we both know you can't keep down."

"Well, thank you."

I leaned in, kissing her forehead. "You're welcome. Just don't tell anyone I gave you morphine for this," I chuckled. "Now, how would you like to sleep?"

"On your chest, please?"

"Sounds good to me."

She sat up, and I laid down on the couch before laying a two pillows over my body, length wise for her. She laid down on me, resting her head just under my chin as I pulled the pink polka-dotted blanket over us.

She was out quickly, and the whimpering was gone. I kept a close eye — or ear, technically — on her breathing and heart rate. They had slowed, but we're still safe. She was safe . . . and out of pain.

Thank _God_.

As she slept, Cole's little body wedged itself between me and the back of the couch. Her little hand was on my chest, over my non-beating heart. There was something special about watching her sleep, which Esme and I did often. We'd probably never tell her, but there were nights when we'd go into her room and watch her sleep.

Watch our _human _daughter sleep peacefully, even though we couldn't.

Honestly, I loved her being human. She may have been more fragile than I liked, but it was amazing to watch her grow and learn right before our eyes. It was different, seeing her encounter things for the first time, though we had encountered them thousands of times. It gave us a new perspective on life.

She was very much a child in many ways, though she was sixteen.

I would always feel blessed that she happened into our lives when she did. And I would always be so grateful to Esme for stopping us in front of that alley. I probably would have walked by without a second thought. After all, Cole wasn't the only human in the area that was in distress.

I would always be able to recount the image of her that night. She was so frail and tiny, huddled in that alley near a dumpster. She was so . . . _broken_. Our love helped heal her, and she healed us, even though we had no idea we needed it.

She was a blessing in every way — meant to be our daughter.

Cole slept peacefully for hours. There was no whimpering, no clutching her stomach, and no tears — for which I was thankful because they broke my heart. She didn't even begin to stir for almost seven hours. I was even able to give her another dose of Zofran without waking her, even though I moved her to get up. At nine in the evening, her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked right into my eyes.

"Well, good evening, sleepyhead," I chuckled, fixing the wrap around her head and tucking a fallen strand of hair into it. "I'm assuming you slept well, yes?"

She nodded, yawning. "Yeah, amazingly. I even kinda feel better."

I grinned, kissing her forehead. "Wonderful. So, might you be up to trying a very small amount of soup?"

She shrugged. "I guess I'll try, but I gotta go potty first."

I laughed lightly under my breath. "Okay, then, you go and I'll get you some soup."

She pushed against my chest, sitting up and stretching before getting off of the couch. I stood with her, steadying her since she swayed — still medicated. Once I was sure she could walk, I helped her to the bathroom and then went into the kitchen. The soup was done, so I ladled a small amount into a bowl before transferring the rest into another bowl to put in the fridge. I grabbed a few saltine crackers, as well as a small glass of sprite for her before going back into the living.

Cole was already back on the couch, sitting up against the back with her blanket over her lap. I put the tray we had over her lap before setting the bowl on it. Her nose crinkled when the smell hit her, and she certainly didn't react positively. "No offense to you, Daddy, but this does _not _smell appetizing," she said.

"You're just not hungry," I said, reattaching the IV before sitting down next to her. "Just try a little for me, okay? I want to see if you can keep it down."

She sighed and nodded, lifting the spoon to her mouth. It was quite obvious that she wasn't enjoying it, but managed a few spoonfuls down before saying she couldn't do anymore. Well, at least she got a little down.

* * *

Cole and I spent the evening on the couch again, watching whatever we could find on television. Thankfully, she _did _manage to keep the small amount of soup down. It thrilled me beyond belief that she had, but I didn't want to push it. I only let her have small sips of sprite or water, leaving plenty of time between each time. She had been keeping it down, too.

Though the nausea and vomiting seemed to have slowed down, her stomach pain hadn't. Worried that I had missed something, I palpated her abdomen again, but she felt no pain that I considered abnormal — just soreness from vomiting. Opting to not risk it and give her more morphine, I let her take a few over-the-counter pain pills instead.

Unfortunately, around midnight, she began throwing up again and we were back on the bathroom floor.

"You should just make me a bed in here," she groaned, hunched over the toilet as I rubbed her back. "It'd be more convenient."

I sighed. "I think you're almost done with this, _Tesoro_. I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon it'll be over."

"I _thought_ it was already over," she huffed, leaning back into me as I grabbed a tissue and wiped her mouth for her.

"Me too, baby girl, me too."

After getting her cleaned up, we went back into the living room once more. She laid with her head in my lap as I turned on the health channel for her again. I didn't miss the small twitch of her lips into a smile.

This time, we wound up watching a show about pregnancy. It obviously wasn't either of our cup of tea, but she didn't want me to change it. It also somehow got us on the topic of childbirth — which was a _little _awkward for me. I refused to _ever, ever, ever _consider the idea of her . . . being _intimate _with someone to have a child.

"You've delivered babies, right?" she asked.

"Many."

"Ever specialized in it?"

I nodded. "I tried it once in the eighties and practiced for six years, but it wasn't my passion. I did enjoy helping bring children into the world, though. The look on the parents' faces meant more than a 'thank you' ever could."

"That's nice, I guess. I don't think I want kids. I mean, it doesn't fit into my plan, and I like my plan."

No kids meant no sex, so that was perfectly fine with me. Maybe it wasn't unrealistic, but I could dream and pray. "I like your plan, too."

"Would you and mom want . . . grandkids, though?"

Esme and I grandparents . . . the thought never really crossed my mind. Would I love to experience having a baby around and watching it grow up? Of course, but I wished that had been Cole. "We'd support you, but it's not like we're hoping for it. It'd your life, _Tesoro_. It should be what _you _want, not us."

"Yeah, I just don't see it happening."

Once the show was over, the baby talk was too and Cole got her fill of high-paced trauma and ER shows as she drifted to sleep. She didn't throw up again, for which I was _very _thankful. We made it into morning, and I gave her another dose of Zofran to help with her nausea. But she didn't throw up, and that was what mattered.

For breakfast, I got her to eat a little more soup, which she kept down. By the time lunch rolled around, she had a little more. With her keeping down food and fluids, I agreed to take out the IV. She was begging me to, after all.

I couldn't resist her adorable puppy dog eyes.

"All right, the adhesive might not feel very good coming off," I said, preparing a piece of gauze to put over the puncture site. "Just bear with me."

I pulled on gloves before gently peeling the adhesive patch off, pulling the IV out with it. She bled a little, so I quickly covered it with gauze and taped it down, holding pressure for a few moments. Once I was done, she moved her hand, grinning.

"Much better. Thank you, Daddy."

I kissed her forehead before throwing everything into the trash can — I'd dispose of it properly in a little while. "You are very welcome."

After everything was cleaned up, I say back down with her on the couch, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as she leaned into me. Though I despised her being ill, I was thankful for the time we had together. It made me feel . . . useful, being able to make her well. I was her father, so taking care of her was my job. My career just helped me do it a little better.

"You're the best dad in the world," she said, looking up at me. "You know that, right?"

I smiled. "That means so much to me to hear you say that. I want to be the best dad in the world for you, because you deserve no less. Thank you for letting me . . . and not fighting me too much."

She giggled. "I only fight you when you try to put an IV in me, and I'm pretty sure I always will. But I'd rather you do it than anyone else. Best doctor _and _best dad."

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked it. Remember, I'm not a doctor or even in the medical field. I research, but sometimes Google doesn't tell me what I really wanted to know.

Love you, Gretchen!


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